Bonnie, For Partying in High Style

Paris Society has its head in the clouds. Bonnie is Paris’s latest party venue, created by the group that is revolutionising hospitality and situated on the lofty 15th and 16th floors of the SO/Paris. An exceptional setting with a 360° view of the Parisian landscape that combines a restaurant with a bar and club and is THE place to go to see and be seen. And the supremo behind this venture is an architect who needs no introduction: Jordane Arrivetz. A regular when it comes to an avant-garde vision of French hospitality, who applied an architectural approach to this former administrative centre, where he “drew inspiration from the context (of each building) to write its history”. Towering above the Seine, the Camondo School graduate created a reception area with multiple narratives, largely inspired by the 60s, the futuristic universe of space-age design and mirror works by Olafur Eliasson. Blending materials to create contrasts “between shiny/textured, smooth/soft, linear/curved, cold/warm”, each room increases in intensity. The founder of the Notoire agency has skilfully incorporated a surprise in every nook and cranny. Details that give the place an anachronistic charm. “The super-graphic corridors, the staircase that connects the two floors with a 5-metre high neon suspension (…) the smoking room decked out in pink” are volumes where “something is always happening”.

Restaurant Bonnie, 10 Rue Agrippa d’Aubigné, 75004 Paris. Monday to Sunday from 12 to 3pm and from 7 to 11pm. Bookings can be made on the website www.bonnie-restaurant.com or by telephone: 01 78 90 74 74.

Jordane, can you tell us about Bonnie?

Jordane

Bonnie is a restaurant, bar and club located on the 15th and 16th floors of the SO/ Paris. This place is part of an ambitious refurb of Paris’s former administrative centre situated between Boulevard Morland and the Seine. You’ll also find accommodation, offices, a youth hostel and a market.

What’s your connection with Paris Society, the hotel group in charge of this venue?

Jordane

We met when I set up my agency, and we’ve worked on several development projects together. When Paris Society suggested we partner up for this venue four years ago, it was a huge project for the agency! The deadlines were tight, and I was also seven months pregnant. So it was a real challenge, but I don’t regret a thing!

Built in the 1960s, the building that houses Bonnie led you to follow a certain aesthetic narrative. What was it?

Jordane

We didn’t have a real “brief.” So we moved forward using the same methodology, the same approach as for our previous projects: we drew on context to write the story. There was this building from the 1960s, the works of Olafur Eliasson, RDAI architects who worked on the hotel, the presence of SO/hotels in France and the Paris Society establishments. It was necessary to create a project that would link all these elements, and the 1960s proved very inspiring. At that time the conquest of space and the emancipation of women guided designers and fashion designers towards the space age, vibrant colours and free forms. This era, this mobility, perfectly compliments the vertiginous view with a somewhat crazy decor that’s also very welcoming!

When Paris Society suggested we partner up for this venue four years ago, it was a huge project for the agency!

How did you incorporate your style – plush ambience, clever lighting and contrasting materials?

Jordane

The guideline was to work on contrast: glossy/textured, smooth/fluffy, linear/curved, cold/warm. From there we had fun creating surprises in each space, working on colours, patterns, and light. We imagined a customer journey that increases in intensity in terms of design and the experience throughout an evening: the restaurant, the bar, and finally the club. And also all the surrounding spaces which needed features: ultra-graphic corridors, the staircase that connects the two floors with a 5-metre suspension, toilet facilities that were features in their own right, the smoking room bathed in pink – that you can see from the Pont Neuf!

Designers, antique dealers, upholstery fabric specialists, artisans: who did you work with to bring this all to life?

Jordane

We worked with designers Garnier & Linker to design made-to-measure furniture and lamps. We knew each other through École Camondo where I graduated, and I was a fan of their work. They have been fantastic partners and have been a great help with our project to turn this venue into a unique place. Bonnie was a long process. We went through a lot of sample phases, controls, prototypes. It was a luxury for us to have the opportunity to work in such conditions, and it allowed us to master the details perfectly. For the final touches, we turned to head researcher Julie Barrau – with whom I worked on the Hotel La Tartane in Saint-Tropez and the Hotel Nuage in Paris – to fill the restaurant’s libraries and make them a completely “Bonnie thing”.

We worked with designers Garnier & Linker to design made-to-measure furniture and lamps. We knew each other through École Camondo where I graduated, and I was a fan of their work.

What was the piece you had the most fun designing? Tell us more.

Jordane

Drawing the carpet pattern was a lot of fun! Creating a pattern is not an easy exercise, but we knew it would be an extremely charming addition to the place. I even lay a big piece of it on the agency’s floor, as a souvenir!

What would be your ideal soundtrack for Bonnie?

Jordane

I would start at the restaurant with Bonnie & Clyde by Serge Gainsbourg (of course!) a cocktail at the bar with Misirlou, the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction, and I would end at the club with I Feel Love by Donna Summer because every great evening features this song.

Where will we find you in the coming months?

Jordane

At the agency and on our sites! We have 5 hotel projects underway that won’t open until next year. We’re working hard on them and can’t wait to show them to you!