Marrakech expressed: turning an old farm into a light-crammed household | Interiors

When French style artwork director Julien Tang achieved photographer and product Cyrielle Rigot in Paris, she was “longing for new air and much-flung adventures”. “Marrakech awaited us,” says Julien. Shortly later on, in 2014, the couple transformed a 16th-century townhouse in Marrakech’s medina into Riad Jardin Solution, an hôtel particulier. After property to Yves Saint Laurent, who entertained his youthful fans there, the home conjures up a 1970s Hideous Kinky structure enchantment.

Currently, the pair also operate an interior structure studio specialising in a crafted, reliable aesthetic with a modern day twist in their household household, a previous rooster farm 25km exterior Marrakech.

Like all their imaginative initiatives, reworking the poultry farm was a joint effort and hard work. “Since our first collaboration, all our jobs have been drawn with 4 arms,” claims Cyrielle. “Julien and I share every little thing and do all the things with each other.” They consider alike, much too. “When we arrived, a donkey lived here, all by yourself, and we both understood how much a donkey desires company.” They went straight to the local donkey sector and purchased a feminine companion, because christened Kawa by their youthful son, Nino. The donkeys share their property with two pet dogs and a cat.

“We desired to produce a family members house that was practical,” says Cyrielle. “It was important to have just one room for daytime, exactly where the entire family members can be collectively, and a substantial place the place we can preserve an eye on Nino although we are cooking.”

All-natural light was also a priority, enhanced by a use of Moroccan architectural options, these as arched home windows and ornate metalwork. The home windows and doorway openings make it possible for the house to be bathed in light from sunrise to sunset. “Living surrounded by gentle and crops is crucial for us,” suggests Julien.

The open up-strategy space sales opportunities to a landscaped backyard garden full of massive cacti – some practically as tall as the household – and grasses. Nino has an outside engage in region beneath a thatched lean-to in the out of doors dining home that overlooks the pool. “The climate is pleasant in this article,” claims Cyrielle, “so it appeared organic for us to produce a harmless, shady spot for Nino outside.”

“We like to have plenty of vegetation, trees and flowers close by,” claims Julien. “Nature plays a critical part in our wellbeing. We produced every thing in the yard: when we arrived, there was absolutely nothing.”

‘The theme is within-outside the house,” suggests Cyrielle, the purpose was to use nature “to produce a serene atmosphere”. She never ever goes wherever devoid of her secateurs, such as when the pair get their bike out. “It is a habit I acquired from my godmother. I like to bring again memories. I dry my treasures in my workshop, then make bouquets from them.”

The property is a “place of sharing and relaxation”. Earth tones create heat and tranquil even though luminous shades capture the light-weight. It’s all offset by flashes of colour, like a custom-manufactured eco-friendly velvet sofa in the dwelling room, made by Cyrielle and Julien and built by their workforce of neighborhood craftsmen a 3m-very long yellow concrete desk in their workroom, the place their pet dog is a recurrent visitor and yellow outside dining chairs, identified in the countryside about Marrakech.

“We appreciate to be surrounded by the objects that we have been amassing for decades, observed in the course of our journeys or several hours misplaced in flea markets in Morocco,” claims Cyrielle. Texture in the residing spaces is “not left to chance”: rugs, glass and enormous earthenware flowerpots housing grasses and cacti provide focal factors. In the most important bedroom, a waxed, dust-colored concrete ground works with whitewashed partitions. Tadelakt, a lime-based plaster with a purely natural stone effect, is utilised on the lavatory partitions for softness and depth, although handmade zellige tiles in caramel incorporate pattern and texture on the ground.

The out of doors dining room is the hub of the house. “It is possibly the spot where by we satisfy most often with family or pals,” says Julien. “We intended and developed the massive oak desk. The straw lampshade set up provides texture.”

For Cyrille, there is no rule when it comes to building a home. “Follow your instincts and hear to your heart,” she states. “Don’t wait to mix eras, colors and objects. With us, our French tradition merges with our like for Morocco. The final result is a great equilibrium. This property will make us really feel happy and so grateful. It is the reflection of our household – a household with blended cultures. Julien is Laotian-Vietnamese, I am French-Polish. Our son is a mixture of the two of us and we all are living in Morocco! In this residence we sense protected and, higher than all, cost-free to work out our passions.”

rigotang.com