Echoes of the 1930s, but with some Bohemian chic
Vintage pieces, reclaimed objects, historic elements and French flair make for a wonderfully relaxed weekend retreat in the center of the city.
Cream walls, French-style shutter windows, clean furniture and an unfussy layout, with plenty of space between the rooms and furniture, together enhance the uncluttered calm at this 200-square-meter apartment inside the city’s landmark Embankment Building built by Palmer & Turner in the early 1930s.
Chinese homeowner William Zhang, who has been calling Shanghai home since 1988, had always had a thing for historic apartments and their fascinating stories. When he saw this particular apartment with its beautifully curved window wall facing the Suzhou Creek and the city’s skyline, he didn’t hesitate to acquire it.
He then searched online for a proper interior designer and found French designer Baptiste Bohu’s works. His French style mixed with Asian elements was what the homeowner looking for this newly purchased apartment.
“The condition of the apartment was good as it had already been renovated by the previous owner in a loft style. I was surprised when the new homeowner wanted to completely remodel the apartment and bring it back partially to its original layout,” Bohu said.
A wooden screen leads to the “resort-looking” private zone where a meticulously carved Chinese opium bed as the center piece of the bedroom.
According to Zhang’s requirement, Bohu basically demolished everything and started from “an empty concrete shell.” The first task was to rethink the layout so the team used the original blueprints of the building to look at how the apartment was configured at its construction.
“We recreated the layout and also made some adjustments to be in line with today’s lifestyle, for instance, to hide the water boiler, hide the air conditioning, add floor heating,” Bohu said. “We put a very strong effort on all details and even if you don’t see it at the beginning, every single material or hardware has been carefully chosen and the apartment is 100 percent tailor made.”
Zhang considers this apartment as his family weekend getaway by the river so the designer didn’t have the burden on creating functional areas such as big storage or a dressing room.
A quite open layout was required with open-plan living and dining space to enhance leisure activities. Zhang loves the exclusive, high-end boutique hotels around the world, particularly those with historic charm so the bedroom and bathroom were inspired by a large hotel suite.
The en-suite bathroom is impressive as it invites one to unwind in a spa-like retreat.
During the renovation, Bohu’s challenge was to answer the owner’s demand for excellence on each item therefore they worked with some of the best suppliers to produce one-of-a-kind pieces. The result is a home space that is always evolving and that they never tire of.
“It is a brand new space that makes you feel it was there for the past hundred years. I wanted to create a space that seems lived in, with a soul and timeless,” Bohu said.
In short, the decor is designed to create a mood, and the place’s magical quality delights owners and guests alike.
“The owner has specific tastes and those were different from my other projects but I knew I could achieve it and took the risk on that. The first thing I worked on were the perspectives in the apartment and making sure to create excitement and surprises on all angles,” Bohu said.
Through the beautiful mint-green doors, one can see through the entire apartment and it gives a sense of drama. The materials are carefully selected and were all available in the 1930s, when Embankment was built.
The apartment is not really divided in a traditional way but one can still get a function for each area. Bohu created an entrance where a fireplace sourced from an old warehouse is the focal point. On each side of the entrance, a dressing room and a storage room were created to hide all the technical equipment to keep the rest of the apartment free of those ugly machines.
A corner of the living room features French style mixed with Asian elements.
The living and dining rooms are separated by two wooden columns and a different floor pattern. The dining room is located where the terrace used to be that they enclosed in using amazing iron and glass windows.
A tea room is placed next to the dining space with a stunning day bed and on the other side is the kitchen with a view overlooking the roof of the iconic Peace Hotel. A wooden screen leads to the “resort-looking” private zone where a meticulously carved Chinese opium bed as the center piece of the bedroom. The en-suite bathroom is equally impressive as it invites one to unwind in a spa-like retreat.
“We kept the space neutral in terms of color by painting all the walls white except one in bedroom that is grey,” Bohu said.
“However, we created excitement with a mint green applied on the wooden doors. This green is very special and we requested five samples to reach the satisfying color.”
The interior is a diverse mix of furniture and curios that the homeowner had picked up in vintage stores or on his travels.
The designer also added some touches of gold on the silk mattress and pillows of the day bed, and some deep orange on the living room sofa and dining chairs. According to Bohu, these colors were popular in the 1930s and perfectly match the outdoor scenery of Suzhou Creek and the rooftops views of the Bund.
The rest of the interior is a diverse mix of furniture and curios that Zhang had picked up in vintage stores or on his travels. Once the apartment layout was set, Bohu went with Zhang to see his collection of furniture and picked the pieces best fit this apartment.
For the missing pieces, Bohu worked with the supplier and selected items that seem again timeless and of great quality. “I designed a sofa with very simple and contemporary shape as I didn’t want the space to look like an antique store. I chose the fireplaces and all the rugs coming from Turkey or Iran to bring a chic and slightly Bohemian touch.”
