“You can see the ripples,” says design star Julien Sebban, gesturing at the swirling poured-resin floors of the Paris apartment he shares with his husband, Jonathan Wray, the artistic director for Maison Royère. “We wanted a shoe-free home, and resin is comfortable to walk on barefoot.”
It’s just one of the many moments of material magic that make their new flat “a full Uchronia experience,” as Sebban puts it, referencing the buzzy, multidisciplinary firm he launched in 2019. In the years since, he has put his inimitable stamp on private homes, furniture, pop-up shops, and more—from branding for Sonia Rykiel to interiors for the restaurant Forest at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris.
At home, Sebban’s self-imposed brief was simple: a total outburst of exuberance and joy. Mission, as always, accomplished. A loftlike space in the 18th arrondissement, just around the corner from the Uchronia studio, the apartment has offered the couple a laboratory for bold ideas. (It doesn’t hurt that many artist and artisan peers are based nearby.) “We worked on the space like a painting,” says Sebban, who tapped the specialists at Atelier Roma to create unconventional wall finishes. (“No white walls!” he exclaims.) Whereas ceilings are lacquered sky blue, the guest room is drenched in a glossy orange and the primary bedroom in a bright yellow based on a neighboring building. To highlight the place’s original bones, meanwhile, Sebban wrapped ceiling beams in Japanese silver foil and LEDs. Those reflective touches, in conjunction with a wall clad in mirrored mosaic tiles, create a dazzling interplay of light. “It’s just a little architectural trick,” Sebban says coyly.
