Today, AD joins architect and designer Hugo Toro to tour one of his latest projects–the renovation of an abandoned Paris townhouse. When the AD100 designer’s clients bought their new home it had sat abandoned for fifteen years providing a blank canvas to work on. Toro gave the seven-story townhouse a grand makeover including an indoor pool, roof terrace, and artisanal furniture.
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00:00It's a place built on seven levels, which is composed of 1,000 square meters with volumes
00:12that are quite impressive, which was designed for a family.
00:16Hello Adé, I'm Hugo Thoreau, I'm an artist, architect and designer, and today I welcome
00:26you to one of the last projects that we have just delivered.
00:29We worked on it for three years, and we had two and a half years of work.
00:36For me, light is essential, because I can make the best drawings.
00:40Without a beautiful light, my project will not come to life.
00:44In the whole private hotel, we have a very warm light.
00:46The idea is really to create something that is domestic, that you feel at home.
00:50For me, a private hotel, if we talk about the entrance, there is always a majestic side.
00:56Here, I wanted to have a room that was very strong.
00:58So we drew this lust that we made in Murano, which is in massive glass, which is also
01:03tinted in the mass, which is made of both glass and aluminum, and which is 7.5 meters high,
01:09and which really gives a verticality and luminosity that will really encompass the whole space,
01:13and also allow us to create a homogeneous light before going into spaces that are more private.
01:21For me, this living room was first and foremost to create something monumental with a fireplace.
01:27I have a passion for fireplaces.
01:28By the way, for example, the fireplace was one of the first to come to life.
01:32And for me, it was really interesting, because I attach myself to having elements that are strong
01:37in each space, to be able to connect them and create, let's say, a certain synergy,
01:43a certain positive emulation between the different atmospheres and atmospheres.
01:49I wanted to create a fireplace that would already bring a certain color and a certain texture.
01:54So we created custom-made pots with one of our craftsmen, with this slightly greenish color,
01:59which is a bit difficult, let's say, to describe, but really also with this little embossed
02:05that will make you think of something, let's say, natural, like a bamboo, but to revisit
02:10with all this framing that will also be made of aluminum and that will bring back this
02:14contemporary side.
02:15And then to come and break this rather rigid symmetry, which also comes from the existing
02:20paneling, with a plantation on the side, with more organic shapes, like all this carpet
02:27and the sofa, all this in dialogue with the heritage, with the ground in Versailles Park.
02:45The swimming pool is a unique space because it is blind and we are in an atmosphere that
02:50is much more feutered, a little more tropical, but with a little side, let's say, boat.
02:55And then also, like, all this idea of a little bath, because we will also have the spa,
02:59the hammam, the sauna, and all this around a pool that is quite long, which is 7 meters long,
03:04so for an indoor pool in Paris, it is quite pleasant to draw this type of architectural element.
03:10I think it makes it a unique piece.
03:12The rooftop, just like the pool, it's a bit like two spaces that are a bit separated,
03:16that are a bit like bubbles and that allow you to create moments for yourself.
03:23It is a place that was built in 1911, which was abandoned for 15 years.
03:28So how to apprehend it?
03:30It is apprehended by having a certain freedom, a certain creativity, and then also by using
03:36techniques that will be old, such as skating techniques, but always to have this little
03:41twist, let's say more contemporary, and also bring a little touch of fun.
03:53So we have pieces that are very marked, which do not necessarily have continuity,
03:57toporality, so we're going to have a lamp that is much more brutal and dates from 2022,
04:02than after a bar, let's say Brazilian, from the 70s.
04:06And I like to have this mix because for me too, it's my style.
04:09I like to have this travel side, travel notebook, and thus integrate it inside.
04:14And in addition, what fascinated me also in this project, is that the client left me
04:19also the direction on works of art, and even some, I paint them myself,
04:25because I am also an artist.
04:31It is an abstract painting, and at the same time it will recall a mangrove,
04:34which will also echo with the shades that we will find in the upper part.
04:38And then also here, another one that is more figurative.
04:41The idea was really to always find this texture and this idea of layer.
04:45And it's a bit like if the water came to erase, but always leave a trace.
04:50And in fact, I always like this idea of working the trace.
04:57Just before entering the parental room, we first arrive in this office,
05:00which is a bit like a roundabout, on which we worked on ocher-yellow tones,
05:04which are quite powerful.
05:05With this idea of circular oculus, which will create this sequence,
05:12which will allow to have a certain procession.
05:15And it's always something that interests me in there.
05:17It's how to go from one transition to the other.
05:19Because for me, the job of an architect, is the transition between materials and spaces.
05:23And that's something that is always essential in my work.
05:27And I like to have the detail afterwards, but it's always that.
05:29It's this transition, it's like the stairs.
05:31The stairs are very important to me.
05:37Here, the idea was to create a room that was a bit fun.
05:41So we have the bed, which is put on a pedestal with two steps to access the bed.
05:46And for me, the texture side is very important.
05:48And that's also why we worked on fabrics that are stretched.
05:51So a mixture of cotton and raffia.
05:53We also really pushed the detail with these handles that are drawn on measure
05:57and which take up the shape of a gazelle horn.
05:59All this in massive chains.
06:02We also have different furniture that come to play in space.
06:05Elements that are chained, like the sofa of the Campana brothers,
06:08which will precisely link the glass with the carpet, which is also drawn on measure.
06:12And then it takes us to the bathroom.
06:17It's the idea of having a fantasy bathroom with this large bathtub,
06:22with this open book in green onyx from Mexico.
06:26And then this work of canning also in chains on the doors.
06:30All this to create something quite homogeneous.
06:32Again, everyone has their own space, everyone has their own identity,
06:35but always a thread.
06:42So on the garden, it was a request from the owner,
06:45to have a little touch, let's say Asian.
06:47What interested me was to have this non-Japanese side
06:50that we completely created.
06:52Then also to have this aquatic dimension.
06:57All my projects always start with a drawing.
06:59What is quite interesting here is that the curation was total.
07:02All the ceramic lamps, for example, in the living room are drawn on measure.
07:05Then we made them with a ceramic artist.
07:08I wanted this large sofa to be very majestic,
07:11but what also interests me is to see with what fabric we are going to do it,
07:14with what density.
07:16And in the dining room, we drew this large table,
07:18which actually separates in two,
07:20which also allows, when we have a table,
07:22we can be at about 14, it seems to me.
07:24And then also, when we separate, we can eat at 3-4.
07:27It's a loop marquetry,
07:29so it's going to take up a certain space,
07:31which will bring back this little contemporary side,
07:33and which will also make a subliminal message with the room,
07:35with the top of the bed.
07:37I like to create places that are alive,
07:39where we will have accidents,
07:41where people will also create moments of life.
07:43I like to highlight the accident.