O YOU/THE TEAM WORK FROM HOME OR THE OFFICE? Our team works principally at the office but we allow one day a week working from home for those who wish. For ‘teamwork’ as you say, it’s important for the creative process to have the team together to exchange and collaborate. Also, the presence of materiality and colour is core to each project concept, and for this you need to see and touch the material; we have a great materials library. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORKSPACE? Our offices are located in a beautiful design models, and bits of wood, shells and leaves that she collects to inspire colour palettes. WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT YOUR SPACE? HOW DOES IT REFLECT THE WORK THAT YOU DO? What is unique about our office is to be right in the centre of Paris, with a voluminous space, lots of light, fresh air, very calm and where the 100 people who work all have the same comfort. The generous space which allows the teams to be surrounded by the prototypes and samples is crucial for our creative energy. We also have some beautiful artwork and renditions of furniture pieces by Rena Dumas which add to this creative environment. COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE VIEW FROM YOUR WORKSPACE? The main design studios look out onto the Parisian courtyard, the surrounding buildings and the open sky. In summer we have parties in the courtyard. We are good friends with all the neighbours. Straight across from us is Lelièvre, the French fabric and furniture maker so it’s very easy to pop over and get a sample. COULD YOU DESCRIBE A TYPICAL WORKDAY? Every day is unique, very busy, project meetings, client meetings, running to the materials library. Most of our projects have teams with a number of people, the architects, interior designers, technical staff all collaborating together. DO YOU USE YOUR SPACE TO ENTERTAIN CLIENTS? We have a kitchen where we entertain clients or in the large ground floor meeting room, but it is a dream to have a larger kitchen and a chef who could cook for the team every day … WHAT IS A DREAM OBJECT THAT YOU WOULD BUY FOR YOUR SPACE RIGHT NOW? We have a very high ceiling in the entrance lobby of the ground floor where we have created a lounge room area with sofas, our favourite Pierre Paulin ‘Pumpkin’ spinning armchairs and a huge bookcase where clients or staff can lounge and browse through design reviews. We dream to add a Xavier Veilhan mobile sculpture to hang in the centre. IF YOUR STUDIO WERE LOCATED ANYWHERE ELSE WHERE WOULD THAT BE? That’s hard! Julia would love to have a studio in Sydney somewhere close to the water, with the seagulls singing. Denis would like a large house, with terraces and a garden full of trees on the edge of the Mediterranean. Our founder, Rena Dumas, was Greek, and we did a seminar in Crete last year for our 50th anniversary. It was very inspiring for everyone to be close to nature, to the water, the light … When the different teams presented their projects from the seminar it was clear that the collaboration and creativity had been nurtured by the place. WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO IN THE COMING YEAR? Retail projects throughout the world: a museum and memorial in the US, hotels and villas in Martinique and the UAE, condominiums in Taiwan, and a special design project in Copenhagen. Denis would like to design a church and Julia a jewellery collection with recycled wood from the Venice canal. But we need to find the time!
