When heritage architects Léa Cottreel and Rosalie Robert of RREEL were tasked with renovating a 58-square-metre apartment in Paris’ iconic Molitor building, they knew they were working with something special. Not your average Parisian flat, this project was located in the very building where Le Corbusier himself had lived and worked until his death in 1965.

Designed and built between 1931 and 1934 by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, the Molitor building stands as a significant example of modernist residential architecture. Le Corbusier occupied the top two floors as his apartment-studio, while the lower floors were sold with flexible interior layouts—a revolutionary concept made possible by his innovative free plan system.

The apartment originally featured three main rooms: a bedroom and living room facing the street, an office overlooking the courtyard, plus a kitchen and bathroom. However, this 1930s layout was completely gutted during renovations in the 1970s, erasing decades of architectural heritage.

In 2024, the new owner approached RREEL with a clear brief: restore the atmosphere and qualities of Le Corbusier’s original work. What followed was part historical detective work, part archaeological excavation. The architects dove deep into archival research and conducted physical investigations within the apartment itself, uncovering traces of the original 1930s layout created by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret.

These discoveries became the foundation for RREEL’s design approach. Rather than creating a museum-like replica, they conceived the new interior as a dialogue between distinct objects—each carefully chosen for their shapes, colours and materials to create both historical and poetic connections to the existing building.

The renovation highlights heritage elements while incorporating modern and contemporary references, creating a layered narrative that speaks to past and present. This approach reflects RREEL’s broader philosophy of analysing the specific constructional and morphological features of existing buildings and transforming them into project opportunities.

Founded in 2023, RREEL specialises in interventions on existing structures, from the restoration of protected buildings to the conversion of rural and industrial heritage sites. Both Cottreel and Robert bring extensive experience as heritage architects, with particular expertise in 19th and 20th-century constructions, including exceptional houses, artists’ studios, vernacular buildings and industrial structures.

Their work on the Molitor apartment showcases a nuanced understanding of how contemporary lifestyles can coexist with historical architecture. By studying both past and present ways of living, RREEL addresses themes of hospitality, comfort and the relationship between intimate and communal spaces, old and new elements. Through their careful archaeological approach and sensitive design intervention, RREEL has successfully restored not just the physical layout, but the spatial qualities that made Le Corbusier’s original vision so revolutionary.

[Images courtesy of RREEL. Photography by Mary Gaudin.]