Renovation impossible, transforming a barge into a home

Renovation project of a barge

In 2010, Philippe and his family, passionate about the sea, decided to exchange their flat in the Parisian suburbs for a barge.

-So why a barge? Because we were drawn to living on the water. Afterwards, a barge in Paris, it's still pretty great because basically, it's the province in Paris, because we are with green around you see there are trees and for all that we are two kilometres from the periphery. So it's still nice!

They fell in love with this 120 square meter barge where everything had to be redone.

-This barge when we bought it looked like a barge all that is normal, that is to say with the hatches that were closed over, so that there was just a floor that was as isolated as it could. So we had everything removed because we wanted to be able to have a fairly blank sheet and be able to do whatever we wanted on what.

An architect to order

The challenge is great, Philippe wants to transform this barge into a house of 250 m². The architect Frédéric Wetzel accepts the challenge and begins by transforming the exterior.

-We are trying here as much as possible to have an outer envelope that still looks like a boat and a barge. So we did something quite sober, we mainly tried to load the rear to free the front, to stay in a seaside, and we played on a difference in treatment between the part at the very rear, which normally is a wheelhouse that we put in wood with round portholes, unlike the rest which remains much more sober where we have very pure and fairly dark rectangles.

To enlarge this barge, the architect imagines the creation of an extension.

-So we arrive from the top level of the barge, so it's above the original bridge, it's a part that has been completely created. All the living rooms have been grouped together here, so the kitchen, the living room, the dining room. We tried to maximize the amount of light with large windows, large openings and tried to create the maximum opening to the outside.

Interior design

For more thermal comfort, the openings have been changed and replaced by HQE approved triple glazing.

-So over the entire upper part of the barge, we tried to decompartmentalize as much as possible to have a space that is still friendly and open, knowing that we had a structural frame which is mandatory to support the entire roof. We played with this structure, we tried to highlight it with these bands that we painted in a different colour, which became luminous points and which make it possible to delimit the spaces, while keeping an open space.

So we now arrive in the entire kitchen area, which is always delimited by this light strip that we have tried to make as user-friendly as possible in the same way. We also tried to create a link between the kitchen and the space downstairs by this contribution of light, which is created by the glass slab.

A large terrace in connection with the kitchen is also installed at the front of the boat.

-On this terrace we really tried to take the symbolism of the boat, so with a rather dark ground which takes up all the colour of the hull, small touches of wood and this cap which, as now, protects from the rain and which, in the summer, makes it possible to slow down the light rays which could pass through the glass and heat the interior. The roof is painted white to prevent overheating in summer. In terms of decoration in this extension, the importance for Philippe, the owner, is to break with the traditional codes of barges. It relies on a very contemporary atmosphere.

-In terms of colours, we wanted to make it modern and sober in the background. So you can see there are a lot of whites and anthracite, whether it's in the furniture or even the paintings or the windows, the radiators. And then, in the same logic, we also wanted to make this quite nice staircase, we have something raw that we like a lot, it is not processed at all. So there I think if you don't see outside you would say that you are not even on a boat, you would be in a flat or in a Loft.

Thermal optimization of the barge To provide interior comfort while ensuring energy savings, a fireplace with heat recovery unit and oil bath radiators have been installed. These efficient installations also bring a touch of modernity to the space. Two hot water tanks are installed near the water features.

-So we go down, we arrive in the hold, which is the original part of the barge. A riveted steel hull from 1917 and which had been fitted out previously by the former owners, who had done the work little by little, and therefore they had created spaces from the back to the front for their children and then for their grandchildren. We ended up with very cramped spaces, very dark, with little light, a lot of wood panelling, so we preferred to demolish everything to really open up the spaces. This level now houses the parental bedroom, that of two children, as well as an office area. A modern space with raw materials and sober colours. Only a little nod is made to the original barge with this deliberately preserved steel watertight bulkhead. For the architect, the priority at this level: ventilation with a double flow CMV, but also thermal insulation.

-We had to remove the old insulation for the hull and add more efficient insulation. That is to say that on a metal part, there is always a problem of condensation, that is to say that when there is a difference in temperature between the inside and the outside, it is like on a car windshield there are drops of water which trickle down and which would have made all the insulation mold, whether it be rock wool, glass wool or vegetable fibre. So we went on a rigid insulation of 20 to 25 cm really glued to the hull.

-It was very important to insulate this barge, of course. People actually think it's wet, that's completely wrong! Finally, it will depend, whoever insulates his house or his barge badly, it will be wet. And then, in terms of comfort, every day, when you open the door, you're outside, you're in the garden and that's great!

Assessment of the renovation, it has been two years since the family has been living their new life to the rhythm of the water on a barge, combining comfort and energy savings.