The gallery itself also reflects this duality. At street level, the aesthetic is deeply contemporary: a nine-metre illuminated wall casts a subtle glow across a space clad in dramatic wood veneer, an effect La Chance founders Louise Breguet and Jean-Baptiste Souletie describe as somewhere between a tribute to Ettore Sottsass and the rigour of Jean-Michel Frank. Pieces like the Phoenix chair, Sunday dining table and Salute side table in white marble reflect the area’s form and intention. Handcrafted niches are home to art and furniture, including the graphic Rocky credenza.The second storey, reached by a textured-concrete staircase, has all the hallmarks of a classic Parisian apartment – Haussman mouldings, lofty ceilings, light-toned marble-powder paint and elongated windows dressed with floor-to-ceiling drapes. Oversized paintings introduce modernity, as do highly sculptural La Chance designs such as the Float coffee table and Bolt stool, where four solid, log-like legs are bound by a fine metal ring. The striking wood-and-marble Monument shelving system marks the delineation between the display zone and an office space.
