A new café on Lyon's riverfront bridges centuries of design heritage

The French architecture and design studio Bloma could teach a master class on transforming heritage property. Its lively scheme for Caillou, a 140-square-metre café on the River Saône in Lyon’s fifth arrondissement, seamlessly integrates contemporary built-ins and a fresh colour palette into a historic stone surround.

Completed late last year, the space draws inspiration from Albert Frey’s modernist houses in California, adding teak tones, pops of midcentury orange and fun custom-leather banquettes. The contrasting tile work and disparate seating slide in like they’ve always belonged together under the cavernous stone arches. Partners Julian Spagnolo and Jeremy Frenot, who have worked together for a decade, installed sinuous bench seating with stone-grey upholstery in dialogue with a new concrete floor, and metal-framed bifold doors in concert with chrome chair frames and Eileen Gray tables.

Photography: Yvan Moreau and Jill Salinger.

‘Our work stems from a deep respect for the history of places,’ say Spagnolo and Frenot. ‘We bring a constantly renewed visual culture while maintaining an aesthetic of continuity—drawing from tradition to nourish modernity.’

The café-comptoir is open Monday through Saturday, from 8am.