Uchronia Conceives Haussmann-Era Paris Apartment as “chromatic jewellery box”

In a Haussmannian building in Paris’s famous Golden Triangle (located between Avenue Montaigne, Avenue des Champs-Elysées and Avenue George V.) is an apartment that dazzles like a jewel box. Here you will find multifaceted furniture pieces crafted to mirror the appearance of precious stones featured in this opulent Parisian apartment, which was renovated by local studio Uchronia for a pair of jewellery designers.

In terms of design, the owners were keen to conjure allusions to stones and have every accent and every piece of furniture hold a mirror to a glowing jewel. When they presented their brief to Julien Sebban of the Paris-based multidisciplinary collective Uchronia, it wasn’t ordinary by any means. Luckily, Julien’s sensibility wasn’t either. And for designer and clients, it was a challenge worth taking on.

When Julien began the project, the home was classically Haussmannian, with 19th-century flourishes, lofty ceilings and noble materials. All 240 square metres of it was as it was when it was built. The bare shell presented an opportunity to start afresh. Accents and furniture took the shape of octagons and trapezoids, each characteristic of a different precious stone.

Uchronia maintained the apartment’s original boiserie, mouldings, parquet flooring and tall ceilings, which are hallmarks of Haussmann-era architecture. This quintessentially Parisian backdrop was updated to include bright and textured furnishings designed to mimic pieces of jewellery.

Great bones needing an upgrade

“The space had great bones – a classical Haussmanian layout,” said Uchronia founder and architect Julien Sebban. “That being said, it felt cold, pretentious and beige. For a change, we avoided structural work and focussed on the decoration”.

The apartment features an amorphous resin table in the dining room that is divided into seven modular parts and patterned with a motif informed by the green gemstone malachite. “The table’s custom-designed, beaten steel legs echo the principle of claws holding a solitaire diamond to its ring,” explained Sebban.

A striking living space

Multicoloured light refracts from a squat stained-glass chair in the sizeable living room, which features a trapezoid lacquered cabinet and curvy jewel-like furniture finished in vivid hues and contrasting textures.

Uchronia suspended a milky blue Murano glass chandelier overhead and wrapped the room’s floor-to-ceiling windows in sheer ombre curtains.

“The walls echo the curtains and are also treated – and this is a technical feat – in gradations of colour,” the architect said.

Tucked into an alcove, towering silvery shelves display a selection of ornaments and were designed to give the impression of an open jewellery box.

“If the apartment’s shapes are reminiscent of the jewellery world, its materials and colours are also borrowed from it,” Sebban said.