A Paris Restaurant That Turns Into a Nightclub at 11 pm

Le Poisson Volant, a restaurant and nightclub designed by Parisian studio Claves, opened on October 2nd at 5–7 rue Marguerite-Moret in Paris's 11th arrondissement. From around 11 pm, the dining room shifts into club mode, with lighting and sound replacing table service as the evening's focus.

The venue occupies the former L'International music venue across two levels. Its interiors combine Brutalist geometry with decorative references drawn from Chinese restaurants of the 1980s, and the atmosphere changes considerably between dinner and the early hours of the morning.

The project came from Bertrand Chauveau and Paul Henri, founders of nearby restaurant Le Cornichon, working with chef Yanxin Yin. They returned to Claves founders Laure Gravier and Soizic Fougeront, who had previously designed Le Cornichon. Among the team's references was New York's former China Chalet, a Chinese restaurant in the Financial District that became a well-known late-night gathering place.

What does the architecture look like?

Claves reorganized the interior around a new framework of columns and beams, taking cues from Brutalist architecture and the industrial character of the surrounding neighborhood. Slender decorative lines and reflective surfaces interrupt the strong geometry. Large mirrors follow the architectural grid, extending views through the interior and making the spaces appear to continue beyond their physical boundaries.

On the ground floor, a large oval bar in patinated steel anchors the center of the room, surrounded by built-in banquettes and dark purple-brown walls. Patterned carpeting adds texture, and high-backed chairs inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh's furniture cut delicate silhouettes against the heavier architecture. Silver-painted geometric motifs trace the walls and columns, mixing traditional Chinese decorative patterns with Art Deco ornament.

The architects also looked to the films of Wong Kar-wai — his saturated colors, reflections and confined spaces. Dark surfaces absorb light while mirrors catch fragments of the surrounding rooms, and the reddish illumination gives the space what Claves describes as the character of an imaginary Shanghai by night. Hand-painted mirrors add illustrated detail, and the repeating ceiling grid sets a rhythm through the rooms.

What's hidden downstairs?

The staircase connecting the two floors carries a monumental diptych by Chinese artist Shuo Hao, commissioned specifically for the venue. The lower level houses the DJ booth and a private room concealed behind an aquarium filled with mineral compositions — a partition inspired in part by Pierre Huyghe's aquarium installations, its illuminated contents visible through the glass. Reflections continue across the basement surfaces, creating a setting increasingly removed from the street.

How does the transformation work?

Lighting design by Paris-based studio Matière Noire does most of the work. Large luminous panels integrated into the ceiling grid provide diffuse light during dinner, then shift toward concentrated, dramatic lighting as the night progresses. The changing intensity alters the room's atmosphere without any physical reconfiguration, and the geometric arrangement reinforces the architecture.

Sound design by FLEiK works alongside the lighting as music gradually takes over. The same columns and mirrored walls stay in place all night; only their appearance changes under the pulsing lights. The approach lets one interior accommodate two very different rhythms within a single evening — a model that could appeal to operators looking to stretch a hospitality space across dinner and late-night trade without building two venues.