Foster + Partners converts Parisian building into "hospitality-driven" gallery and restaurant

British studio Foster + Partners has transformed a 1970s building on the Champs-Élysées in Paris into a gallery and studio for US furniture brand RH, topped with a rooftop restaurant.

Foster + Partners worked with RH on the building conversion, aiming to create what it described as a "hospitality-driven gallery space" that brings together retail and leisure.

"Our interventions update and enhance the existing building in a way that is sensitive yet impactful," said Foster + Partners senior partner Giles Robinson.

"The design redefines the retail and hospitality experience to create a truly unique destination in the heart of Paris."

Located on the Champs-Élysées, the RH Paris gallery includes spaces where the brand's furniture is exhibited alongside art and antiques.

Above, Foster + Partners added two rooftop spaces to the five-storey building.

On a lower-level rooftop, the studio created arched glazed walls enclosing a "winter garden" restaurant, and on an upper level, an outdoor rooftop champagne bar has panoramic views of Paris.

Landscaped outdoor space wraps the building, creating a buffer between it and the streetfront.

A double-height interior design studio for RH is situated at the rear of the building and features glazed facades overlooking the garden outside.

"The carefully curated hospitality spaces are designed to offer the highest level of luxury and comfort for guests, whether you are dining in the light-filled winter garden or taking in panoramic views of the city from the rooftop bar," said Foster + Partners architect and partner Sarah Wai.

To give access to all floor levels, including the upper rooftop, Foster + Partners designed a retractable lift.

According to the studio, a conventional lift was not possible due to planning constraints, as an elevator enclosure on the rooftop would block the sightline of the Eiffel Tower from the Champs-Élysées.

Instead, Foster + Partners installed a retractable lift that is concealed from the rooftop under a hatch. When the lift rises to the rooftop, the hatch opens with a glass parapet wall surrounding the opening.

Elsewhere on the Champs-Élysées, Foster + Partners transformed an apartment building into an Apple Store topped with a kaleidoscopic solar roof.

Other projects recently completed by the studio include the 270 Park Avenue supertall skyscraper in Manhattan and the Techo International Airport in Cambodia, which is topped with a latticed canopy.

The photography is courtesy of RH Paris.

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