Architect Rudy Ricciotti turned a Marseille post office into a beach-inspired home

Rudy Ricciotti converted an old post house in Marseille to create this glazed, timber-framed loft home with a pool at its heart.

The French property has beach house vibes thanks to its vaulted interior, weathered textures and sunny outdoor spaces. The Algeria-born Italian architect arranged its living spaces around a triple-height central void, retaining the post office’s original layout. Vintage metal staircases link its galleried top floor while its whitewashed finish lends it a coastal air.

Its 14-metre lap pool is flooded with sunlight from an enormous, glazed end wall, its surface dancing with reflections of the grand palm tree in the adjoining, deep-walled courtyard garden. There are echoes of Ricciotti’s famous 2013 co-creation, Marseille’s Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations, which features a lattice-work shell of fibre-reinforced concrete that cast dappled shadows.

Espaces Atypiques is listing the three-bedroom Marseille property for €599,000. Ricciotti has heightened the holiday vibe by adding a Tiki-style bar and plywood-clad vintage caravan. Other cool elements include a leather punchbag, a pistachio-hued suspended fireplace, string bulb lighting, and chicken-wire lined balconies.