Three architects on one project may seem like overkill, but Nüba in Paris was a complex job in more ways than one. For a start, two of the architects were living in Mexico. That’s where Emmanuel Picault and Ludwig Godefroy, Frenchmen abroad, met Le Baron founder Lionel Bensemoun at a party, and the wheels were set in motion for a Paris project on the banks of the Seine in the recently revitalised Gare d’ Austerlizt district.
The architectural duo were ideally placed to bring a Mexican influence to Nüba with several years of experience in the country, but instead of a facsimile, they decided to transport key materials over from Central America for authenticity. Paris-based colleague Nicolas Sisto came on board to make it three, and together they set about shipping over five tonnes of volcanic stone from Veracruz to Le Havre, 200 sqm of León leather for the walls, and 300 sqm of Santa Clara Del Cobre copper leaf for the ceiling, among other things. The restaurant-slash-club is split into two main areas. The Garden is the outside terrace area in a prime location looking out onto Paris’s famous river, with a landscaped effect created by a metal frame and contoured wooden flooring. Inside is known as The Temple, with angular motifs, straight edges and chunky square furniture – a dark, characterful space that evokes a subterranean underworld to the frivolity that occurs ‘up-top’. Fascinating, multi-faceted, cocksure – it’s all very Parisian, of course…
Photo © Nicolas Sisto
Photo © Kris Maccotta
Photo © Thibault Van Kammen,
Agence Les Barbus
Photo © Nicolas Sisto
Photo © Nicolas Sisto
Photo © Paola Garamond Serif
Photo © Kris Maccotta
Photo © Nicolas Sisto
Photo © Nicolas Sisto
Photo © Kris Maccotta
Photo © Kris Maccotta
Photo © Nicolas Sisto
Photo © Kris Maccotta
Photo © Kris Maccotta
