To preserve the open, industrial feel of a 1920s industrial loft in Paris’ 11th arrondissement, architect Alex Delaunay inserted a pre-fab island into the center. The golden aluminium-clad cube adds bedrooms and a bathroom without the need for adding walls to the stripped-down, raw concrete space.

Twelve of the 40 tall aluminum panels on the home-within-a-home are operable shutters or doors mounted on metal frames and rails allowing for natural light to enter the bedroom and bathroom filtered through slats in the polycarbonate panels.

(We featured another of SABO Projects’ designs: the “Hike” apartment on Montmartre).