This sense of discovery extends throughout Babi. Enveloping banquettes define more secluded areas, inviting guests to linger and converse, while a generous marble counter takes centre stage as a more communal focal point.

The existing openings in the walls have been preserved and incorporated into the new design. Functioning as both passages and frames, they create sightlines between the different areas, revealing the depth of the space.

The contemporary interventions, meanwhile, are deliberately restrained. Dark tables, wooden seating and suspended light fittings appear as understated gestures, allowing the existing architecture to remain in the foreground. Lighting also plays a fundamental role: warm and diffused, it spreads gently across the surfaces, reinforcing a quiet, almost domestic atmosphere. A space designed to be experienced slowly — through light, touch and the perception of materials.

Outside, the relationship shifts. The façade opens generously onto the street, establishing a direct connection with the rhythm of Paris. This tension between openness and privacy is central to Babi’s identity: a restaurant that remains connected to its urban context while sheltered from its intensity.

At the heart of the project lies a play of contrasts. Raw materiality meets a sense of retreat, while the history of the building coexists with the softness of the new elements. The result is neither a nostalgic interpretation of the past nor an excessively pared-back contemporary interior, but rather a carefully crafted balance.

A year later, this design language was extended with the creation of Babi Wine Cellar, conceived as a darker, more immersive interpretation of the restaurant’s world. Together, the two spaces establish a distinctive identity, rooted in intimacy and a certain poetry of imperfection.