British architecture firm Foster + Partners has reimagined a 1970s commercial block on the Champs-Élysées as a new European flagship for American design brand RH. The project combines a gallery, studio, and restaurant under one roof, creating a space that merges commerce, design, and hospitality.
The five-storey building, once a dated retail property, now functions as what the architects describe as a “hospitality-driven gallery.” The conversion rethinks how furniture and interiors are presented — shifting the focus from display to experience.
“Our interventions update and enhance the existing building in a way that is sensitive yet impactful,” said Giles Robinson, senior partner at Foster + Partners.
“The design redefines the retail and hospitality experience to create a unique destination in the heart of Paris.”
The concept moves away from conventional showroom design. Visitors can browse, dine, or consult RH’s design team in a sequence of interconnected settings.
Layout and Program
The interior organization establishes a rhythm between public and private zones:
- Ground and first floors: Furniture galleries where RH collections are displayed alongside selected artworks and antiques.
- Rear section: A double-height interior design studio, glazed on both sides and overlooking a landscaped courtyard.
- Intermediate rooftop: A winter garden restaurant, enclosed within arched glass walls.
- Upper rooftop: An open-air champagne bar with views of the Eiffel Tower and the Paris skyline.
- Perimeter terrace: Landscaped areas soften the edge between the building and the busy avenue below.
Together, these elements create a vertical journey — from product exploration to leisure and city views.
Engineering a Hidden Lift
The project’s most distinctive technical feature is a retractable rooftop lift, designed to meet accessibility standards while preserving protected sightlines.
Due to local planning rules, any fixed elevator shaft visible from the street would have disrupted the view corridor toward the Eiffel Tower. The solution:
- A lift concealed under a retractable hatch in the rooftop terrace.
- When activated, the lift rises through the opening and is surrounded by a glass parapet for safety.
- When not in use, it retracts completely, leaving the roof unobstructed.
This mechanism demonstrates Foster + Partners’ approach to discreet engineering, blending function and preservation within tight urban constraints.
Interiors and Material Approach
The architecture maintains the existing structural grid but opens up the interiors to daylight. Materials are kept simple and tactile — stone flooring, pale timber, and glass — allowing RH’s furniture to take visual focus.
The design encourages movement and lingering rather than transactional browsing. Lounges and dining spaces are interspersed between display zones, underlining RH’s strategy of merging retail with lifestyle.
Key features include:
- Large, flexible volumes for rotating exhibitions and installations.
- Continuous glazing linking indoor and outdoor terraces.
- Subtle transitions between retail, dining, and work zones.
A Broader Context
The RH Paris gallery extends Foster + Partners’ ongoing engagement with adaptive reuse and hybrid commercial architecture. Just a few blocks away, the firm previously completed the Apple Store on the Champs-Élysées, where a restored apartment façade conceals a high-tech retail interior and solar canopy.
Elsewhere, the studio’s recent global projects — including 270 Park Avenue in New York and Techo International Airport in Cambodia — explore similar ideas of high-performance design tied to local identity and environmental restraint.
Redefining Urban Retail
The Paris project reflects how global design brands are reshaping their physical spaces. Instead of operating as showrooms or sales floors, they now act as social venues , spaces for dining, discussion, and collaboration.
“The hospitality spaces are designed to offer comfort and ease, whether dining in the light-filled winter garden or enjoying panoramic views from the rooftop,” said Sarah Wai, partner at Foster + Partners.
By retaining the existing building and adding only targeted interventions, the architects balanced heritage preservation, commercial need, and urban presence. The result is a project that sits comfortably within Paris’s most recognisable boulevard while offering a new way to experience design.
