An apartment in Paris

It's funny the amount of people who, when they find out I'm an architect, ask me for a bit of advice about changes they want to make to their home, whether it be an attic conversion, or an extension, or even a new house! I imagine it's a bit like working in the medical profession, giving people casual advice about their aches and pains, but without the perks of a huge salary. Now don't get me wrong, it's flattering to be asked, and I enjoy designing, so I'm usually happy to try and help, especially as I've taken a temporary break from mainstream practice and don't get the same opportunities to design and draw stuff. (I'm more of an architectural critic / report writer these days). But these things can grow arms and legs and take a hell of a lot of time, and I've been burned in the past, so I'm more wary than I used to be about taking on private work or dishing out advice, but that's another story.

Some friends of Laura's live in Paris. In Montmartre to be precise, near the Sacre Coeur. We visited them a couple of years ago. He's a translater and she's an artist, and they have a very sweet daughter. Anyway, they're moving to a new apartment, still in Montmartre. They've bought what is basically a two-storey empty shell, into which they can design their own interior. So they asked for a bit of advice about how best to fit in the number of rooms they wanted and where to put them.

I took a shot at it this weekend and emailed a sketch to them. It's pretty straight forward, I think. Anyway, it was quite nice to pick up a pen, a piece of tracing paper and scale rule and actually do some designing. I miss it.