Many city dwellers with a child on the way think about decamping to the suburbs, but for Romain and Aurélie Fliedel, who were living in Boulogne-Billancourt, a town west of Paris, it was just the opposite. When Aurélie became pregnant with their first child, they decided to move back to the city, specifically to the 15th arrondissement, where they had once lived. They missed their old neighborhood, with its streets lined with boulangeries, cafes, and markets, and thought it would be a lively place to raise a family.

Their search for an apartment soon led to a surprisingly spacious three-bedroom duplex on the upper floors of an unassuming 1970s building. “It was much bigger than what we thought we would find,” says Romain, who works from home as a web developer. “The opportunity to decide how to organize the space was irresistible.” They scooped it up in 2017.

Then came the hard part. The previous owners had connected two apartments—totaling about 1,650 square feet—simply by punching a hole between them and inserting a spiral staircase. The properties languished as near replicas of each other, doubling up on kitchens and bathrooms. Aware that converting the space into a true single-family residence would be a big undertaking, Romain and Aurélie turned for help to Alexandre Delaunay, founder of Brooklyn- and Paris-based Sabo Project, whose work they had seen in a magazine. “We liked his style, which is modern and very smart,” says Aurélie, a marketing director. “We met him and he understood what we wanted straight away.”

Delaunay suggested locating the three bedrooms and Romain’s office in the downstairs apartment and giving over the upstairs to an open-plan living/dining area and a large eat-in kitchen. “It allowed us to take advantage of the unimpeded light on the top floor and not to worry about noise coming from upstairs when we’re in the bedrooms,” says Romain. Indeed, the panoramic views of Parisian rooftops are spectacular, with the Eiffel Tower just visible in the distance.

The couple especially liked Delaunay’s suggestion to use light Baltic birch plywood for virtually all of the apartment’s woodwork. Now much of life’s day-to-day detritus is tucked away in carefully crafted cabinets or stored on moveable shelves. At the center of the apartment is the spiral staircase that connects the two floors. Delaunay added a striking plywood surround that doubles as protection for Laura, the couple’s 21-month-old daughter.

“The idea of utilizing a simple and humble material puts forward good design rather than ostentatious luxury,” says the architect. “The many instances in which the birch plywood is used brings a sense of cohesiveness to the apartment. The space has a strong and unique character while also being laid back and informal.”

Across from the open-plan living room is a sliding wall that closes off the kitchen, which is largely lined in plywood cabinetry and has a white resin floor. The upper story is also the domain of Sacha, the couple’s cat, for whom Delaunay carved out an arched cat door in the sliding wall so he can come and go as he pleases. “Sacha’s daily life became one of my main influences in the design of the apartment,” says the architect.

The couple mostly followed Delaunay’s lead, including his decision to place their custom bed in the middle of the room, creating a separate dressing area behind it. “It’s two different spaces that work very well for us,” Romain says. But they also had strong ideas of their own. The exposed concrete ceiling on the upper floor is one of the contributions they’re particularly fond of, though Aurélie admits their parents “think it’s not finished.”

Although the project overran its timeline and Laura was born before they could move in, the result was worth the wait. The duplex perfectly reflects the residents’ taste for clean, contemporary spaces, offering a refuge from busy city living—without giving up any of the joys of city life.

More by Sabo Project:

A Fashion Designer’s Parisian Apartment Gets a Cheerful Update—and a Rainbow Floor

An Ingenious Gold Island Transforms an Industrial Apartment in Paris

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Alexandre Delaunay, Sabo Project / @sabo_project

General contracting: ETC L2S