Rodolphe Parente and Marion Mailaender Redesign Paris’s Ken Club with 1980s Energy
A four-year renovation revives the historic Parisian sports club through postmodern aesthetics and expanded hospitality.
1Four-Year Overhaul Unveiled
Pioneering Parisian private sports venue Ken Club reopened in September 2026 following an extensive four-year renovation. Interior designers Rodolphe Parente and Marion Mailaender reimagined the property without attempting exact replication. The scheme introduces metallic surfaces, curving partitions, and bright pastel accents across studios, changing rooms, recovery areas, and outdoor lounges.
2Four Decades of Heritage
Mireille and Pierre Benzaquen founded the Ken Club in 1985 to blend fitness with hospitality. The venue attracted a prominent Parisian membership seeking community alongside exercise. Sons Arthur and Frank-Élie Benzaquen took control in 2001, driving the recent transformation to honor the joyful freedom of the 1980s.
3Memphis Postmodern Design Language
The collaboration marks the first joint interior commission between Parente and Mailaender. Their shared creative concept channels 1980s Memphis-era postmodernism, rejecting modernist restraint. Graphic geometries, saturated color schemes, and unexpected pairings of glossy and matte textures create an irreverent yet strictly disciplined visual environment throughout the multi-level facility.
4Sculptural Circulation and Materiality
The entrance area features a bubblegum-pink reception desk set against polished metallic walls. A sweeping staircase covered in cream-and-black flecked carpeting extends onto adjacent floors, forming a continuous textured landscape. Porthole windows look into the pool, while stainless steel, poured terrazzo, and natural cork add distinct tactile layers.
5Chromatic Inversions in Locker Rooms
Colors define functional zones, led by French Malabar bubblegum pink across athletic studios and deep blue in cycling spaces. Designers deliberately inverted traditional locker room tones, assigning pink to men and blue to women. Metal lockers with angled geometric panels, contrasting baseboards, and custom benches enhance the theatricality.
6Architecture of the Lounge Patio
Architect Denis Valode conceived a glass-enclosed lounge patio to offer a peaceful transition between intense workout areas. Exposed white structural framing lets daylight wash over sinuous banquette seating and lush foliage. The adjacent solarium garden extends member circulation outdoors, maintaining visual links between internal studios and exterior landscape.
7Expanding the Hospitality Footprint
The overhaul extends the club's hospitality profile by introducing Dagim, a destination restaurant directed by Michelin-starred chef Assaf Granit. The dining space includes an outdoor garden terrace offering views toward the Eiffel Tower. This addition reinforces the venue's core founding premise as a social dwelling, not merely a gym.
8Redefining Institutional Continuity
Ken Club's transformation illustrates how heritage brands can evolve without losing identity. By updating aesthetic codes rather than leaning on static nostalgia, the project preserves original 1985 values through contemporary execution. The result confirms that four decades of brand relevance requires forward-looking adaptation alongside historical respect.