paf atelier + BB architectes organize paris apartment around perforated orange mezzanine

gambey: A compact intervention within a Paris apartment

Gambey, an interior project by Paf atelier and BB architectes, occupies a compact apartment in Paris’s 11th arrondissement, where living spaces are reorganized around a central mezzanine. Rather than reading as a series of separate rooms, the dwelling is experienced as a continuous interior shaped by a single constructed volume that gathers circulation, storage, and programming into one cohesive framework.

To create distinct spaces without subdividing the apartment, the French architects introduce a freestanding steel structure that reads as a piece of interior architecture. This lightweight structure rises through two levels and establishes a strong vertical presence that organizes movement across the plan.

Gambey occupies a compact apartment in Paris’s 11th arrondissement | images © Céline Saby

the steel structure by Paf atelier and BB architectes

Designed by Paf atelier and BB architectes, the intervention is fabricated from orange-lacquered steel profiles infilled with perforated sheet metal panels. Its cross-shaped geometry extends laterally at the mezzanine level and vertically from floor to ceiling, organizing areas for sleeping, working, cooking, and living while remaining spatially open.

Perforation density varies across the panels, shifting between finer and more open patterns. These surfaces register changing light conditions throughout the day while maintaining visual continuity between spaces. From certain angles, furniture and objects appear softened behind the mesh, their outlines filtered rather than concealed.

Close views reveal the precision of the perforated panels, their circular pattern repeated across walls and railings. Light passing through these surfaces casts subtle shadows across the floors and walls.

a freestanding steel structure replaces conventional partitions within the open plan

a mezzanine guides circulation

A stair runs alongside the steel volume within Paf atelier and BB architectes’s Gambey, its handrail and guard formed from the same perforated metal and lacquered finish. The stair connects the main floor to the mezzanine, where a compact work area and seating occupy the upper level. The mezzanine edge aligns with the horizontal arms of the steel structure to reinforce its role as a spatial datum.

At the upper level, the perforated guardrail continues the visual language established below. Views extend across the apartment toward roof glazing, with daylight moving through the mesh and across white walls and pale wood flooring.

the structure forms a cross in plan and rises continuously from floor to ceiling

Living areas and furnishings

On the main floor, the living area remains open, furnished with low tables, stools, and freestanding objects arranged around the steel core. Color appears selectively. Orange steel elements contrast with white surfaces, while blue and pink furnishings introduce secondary tones without dominating the space.

Curtains mark the sleeping area, drawn across openings in the steel frame. Their soft translucency offsets the rigidity of the metal structure and provides privacy within the open plan. When pulled back, the bed sits visibly within the larger room, framed by the mesh panels.

kitchen cabinetry finished in muted metallic tones punctuated by small blue hardware

Kitchen integration and material continuity

Meanwhile, the kitchen sits alongside the central structure, its cabinetry finished in muted metallic tones punctuated by small blue hardware. A structural column, painted the same orange as the steel framework, passes through the kitchen island and visually links the fixed building elements to the inserted volume.

This continuity of color and material extends across levels, connecting stair, guardrails, and vertical supports. The steel surfaces show bolts, edges, and joints without concealment. These details serve to emphasize assembly and construction at a domestic scale.

a structural column is painted the same orange as the steel framework