Embody the spirit of a historical and incredibly lively Parisian neighbourhood and design a space capable of telling Pigalle’s story, as a sort of neighbourhood collective. That was the double challenge set for Charlotte de Tonnac and Hugo Sauzay, architects from the Festen interior design agency. Since graduating from the Ecole Camondo in 2011 – and regardless of the project they’ve been working on – this super creative duo have made it their mission to “transform the classic space
through a respect for original structures, purity, and a selection of contemporary furniture.” They benefited the hotel with their expertise, adding typical Parisian touches, such as panelled doors and white walls, moulding, woodwork and parquet flooring. “If you really look close at Pigalle, we’re actually in La Nouvelle Athenes, where the architecture is less uniform than elsewhere, and we’ve taken the essence of that with details such as curved bay windows, and the cheap, veined marble
that was really popular in this faubourg, where people wanted to imitate the richer districts, so we’ve used that for the basins. The terrazzo flooring on the ground floor is like the ones you find in the local bars and the leopard and oxblood carpets
of the brothels is expressed here through tiny touches in the lift and lower-ground toilets,” explains Hugo. Another final example of their minutely researched work is the scraped plaster dados on the ground floor, a nod to the old mines of
Montmartre. An interior design deeply rooted in its surroundings.
