The history of the Rue Cadet in Paris is down-to-earth and regal, while the new hotel “La Fantaisie” is simple and harmonizing on the outside and colourful, loud and picturesque on the inside. PPX and Martin Brudnizki show that all this together creates a convincing unit.
Photo: Sergio Grazia
The history of Rue Cadet in Paris dates back to the 16th century. At that time, the still simple path bordered the property of the Cadet family. At that time, the brothers Jacques and Jean were the master gardeners of Charles IX and supplied the court with fruit, vegetables, herbs and more. Today, the street named after the brothers is part of the 9th arrondissement of Paris; a public, lively and touristy street in one of the most densely populated, but also one of the least leafy neighborhoods in the city. Ironic when you think of the street’s history. The former site of the royal gardeners, 24 Rue Cadet, has been home to a hotel since the end of the 20th century. Not a respectable one. One that did not correspond architecturally to the scale and structure, nor to the identity of the neighboring buildings or the narrow street. Badly aged, disproportionate and with no open or public space, the hotel may not have had a good time, but its better days were definitely behind it. The French hotel group Leitmotiv will have taken a similar view when it acquired the old building. It commissioned the Paris-based architecture firm Petitdidierprioux to revitalize the building.
Homage to the location
Petitdidierprioux had to gut the existing building while retaining most of the supporting structure. This was a key factor in the construction of the new hotel. This spared the neighborhood major demolition work and allowed the architects to start their resource-conserving approach. Petitdidierprioux pursued two approaches in their design: On the one hand, the focus of the reconstruction was on the environmentally friendly reinvention of the architecture and, on the other, on the history of the property. They achieved the former through precise and sparingly thought-out additions, carefully planned interventions and without unnecessary waste. The second was the concept behind the content: the “La Fantaisie” hotel, which will open in June 2023, follows the idea of vegetable and flower gardens. From where the Cadet brothers once supplied the French court with their nursery, an idyllic haven of peace has sprouted up in the midst of urban life.
Blossoming dialog with the neighbourhood
The new five-star hotel La Fantaisie completes and simplifies the row of houses around 24 Rue Cadet. The simple street façade is the main architectural element. Pre-patinated, gray-green zinc clads the building on the street and rear sides in smooth, folded or ribbed designs. Together with the copper roof, Petitdidierprioux not only echoes the urban architectural landscape of the French capital and its richness of detail, but also gives space to the missing greenery. This is not only achieved through the color or on the street side with individual balcony plants: Due to the materiality and uniform articulation of the façade with its large steel windows, slender mullions and narrow balconies, the intended association of greenhouses is created.
While the main façade makes stylized reference to greenhouses, French greenhouses from the late 19th century are reflected in the rear in particular. Here, however, it is more than an association; a hidden terrace in the lushly planted inner courtyard, enlarged by Petitdidierprioux, and a kind of conservatory across the entire width of the property create a quiet oasis not far from the busy street. This gradual transition from urban energy to a green retreat at ground level is an inclusive one: in contrast to the previous building, the architects opened up the first floor level to neighbors and guests. Passing a café with a bar, the reception in the hallway leads to the “Golden Poppy” restaurant at the rear of the building before stepping out into the garden. The hotel is also open to the public vertically: there is a rooftop bar on the seventh floor with a panoramic view of the rooftops of Paris. The first basement floor houses a spa with a water pool, massage rooms and a sauna based on ancient Roman thermal baths and underground springs.
Photos: Jerome Galland
Details from the flora and materials from nature: the bucolic atmosphere runs through the entire hotel.
Balance between architecture and flora
Between the spa in the basement, the restaurant on the first floor and on the roof, the hotel can accommodate its guests in 63 rooms and ten suites. The interior design is based on the architectural concept – although the form of expression is completely different. Swedish interior architect and designer Martin Brudnizki only joined the team after the design of the new hotel had been defined. While Petitdidierprioux’s work is characterized by simple and clear lines, Brudnizki created an expressive and at the same time perfecting contrast to the architectural shell.
Colors, materials and prints are confidently interwoven; an alternation betweenromantic floral prints and geometric patterns is omnipresent. The green of the façade is reflected in various shades in the interior. It is the unifying basis for the architecture, interior and history of the location. This is complemented by a color palette of predominantly pastel shades of blue, yellow and coral. Florally shaped lamps, wicker and rattan furniture, natural stone, velvet and bouclé fabrics – the colorful interior design seems to be from another time and world; a dream world with a garden, a walk through the herbarium. La Fantaisie is Brudnizki’s first hotel project in the French capital.
Botanical delight
But there is another person celebrating a premiere in Paris with this hotel: Dominique Crenn. The French chef moved to San Francisco in the 1980s, where she was the first woman in the USA to be awarded three Michelin stars. Under her gastronomic and sustainable leadership, the hotel presents an interpretation of Californian cuisine with French roots – exclusively vegan and pescetarian. The overall concept of La Fantaisie compensates for the cramped and urban location, subtly entering into a dialog with the surroundings, allowing guests to take a deep breath, a break from everyday life on various levels – literally and figuratively. But above all, the hotel creates a balance between architecture and flora.
Also worth seeing in Paris: the neon red lights of a new, trendy restaurant shimmer across the Canal Saint-Martin: Gros Bao combines high-quality cuisine with a sophisticated ambience.