Annette’s Art of Living: A Relaxed Atmosphere in the World of Premium Fitness
Words & Pictures: Noemie Rodrigues
“I wanted a club where you could have your morning coffee, work out, grab lunch, work remotely, take care of your health, and play sports late into the night!” - and that’s how Annette K. was born.
Annette K. first took shape as a barge on the Seine, designed as a place of well-being for both body and mind, where sport, culture, and celebration come together. Since 2022, this unique venue has offered a swimming pool, gym, coffee shop, guinguette, physiotherapists, spa area, solarium, nightclub, and restaurant - a vibrant space, alive from sunrise to the early hours of the morning.
The name pays tribute to Annette Kellerman, an early 20th-century pioneer who dared to defy restrictive dress codes that limited women’s access to swimming. The inventor of the modern swimsuit, she embodied freedom of movement and body emancipation - values that lie at the very heart of the Annette K. spirit.
Behind this ambitious project are two men brought together by squash and cinema. Sébastien Marques, General Manager, has a lifelong connection to squash. Starting at a young age, he became champion of New Caledonia, and later returned to competition with rare intensity. Between the ages of 24 and 31, he trained daily, reached the French Top 30, played for the PUC (Paris Université Club), and even competed in the Belgian league. With his background as an engineer, he had already been managing the festive side of other iconic Parisian venues (such as Rosa Bonheur). But a serious injury suddenly forced him away from the courts.
That experience introduced him to rehabilitation centers - often gloomy, impersonal, and uninspiring. This realization became a driving force: why not create a place that was beautiful, lively, and motivating, where rehabilitation could also be a pleasure, a shared experience?
“In New Caledonia we used to play 24 hours of squash - the party never stopped,” Sébastien recalls, summing up his connection to both squash and celebration.
It was in this spirit that he became the first to use the spaces he helped create: first the Annette K. barge, transformed into a haven for fitness and well-being, and later Annette K. Montparnasse, where he gradually returned to squash, especially through veteran tournaments.
Alongside him is Pascal Caucheteux, founder of Why Not Productions, a long-time squash partner and friend. Their shared dream came to life through this unique club, combining sporting excellence, design aesthetics, and conviviality.
Pascal’s cultural commitment extends far beyond cinema. He is also the creator of vibrant social spaces: the Cinéma du Panthéon, its lounge and bookshop, the Rosa Bonheur guinguettes, the restaurants La Cantina and Fratelli Pastore in Boulogne-Billancourt, and, more recently, Annette K., a hybrid and festive venue.
In 2023, Sébastien Marques decided to return to his first love: squash. That is when the Annette K. Montparnasse project began.
“The first venue [the barge in Paris’ 15th arrondissement] helped me recover physically, and the second [the Montparnasse club] brought me back to the racket,” Sébastien explains.
The Montparnasse club continues the vision launched on the barge, but on a new scale. It is located in a space already well known to the Parisian sports scene: the former Club Med Gym, a pioneer of fitness in France, hidden behind the archway of the iconic Rue de Rennes. This is where Pascal and Sébastien once played squash together, when the club was still in its prime. They knew the manager the place, the atmosphere. Naturally, it became the next stage for their vision.
The new club is designed as a complete living space, centred on sport but not limited to it. It includes a clubhouse and restaurant, squash courts, fitness zones (training floor, group class studios, and more to come), as well as climbing walls highlighted by the building’s extraordinary ceiling height beneath a vast glass roof.
The design was entrusted to Sarah Lavoine, a renowned architect and designer, who worked on the project for two years to create a space that is elegant, vibrant, and accessible. The building was acquired in July 2023, with opening planned for June 2025, after nearly two years of renovation.
The venue was conceived as a theater of sport: “Here we also do squash as a spectacle - it was built into the architecture. At the heart of the project is the restaurant, staged around squash and climbing - around sport itself.”
The design, the light, the flow of movement… everything has been thought of as a stage set.
“You look through a window - you’re watching a show. We design places as we make a film: a script, a staging, décor, ambiance, design.”
With its open volumes, transparency, and natural light, the club becomes a living space where sport is not only practiced but also admired.
On the sporting side, the ambitions are clear: to build teams and develop players to reach the national level. Here, performance never stands in opposition to pleasure - it grows naturally out of it, as the logical next step for those who wish to go further.
The ambitions are diverse: “We’re trying to find a model that is both a federation club and a fitness club - affiliated with the Federation, selling licenses, running competitions. We don’t deny that fitness is a huge part of it, but we want to create pathways for fitness enthusiasts to discover squash.”
In France, squash remains a niche sport: around 22,000 licensed players for nearly 200,000 occasional participants. Between federation clubs focused on competition and fitness clubs outside the Federation, the hybrid model had yet to be invented.
This is precisely where the project finds its meaning. The goal: to bridge leisure play and federation play, offering an entry point for everyone, regardless of level or ambition.
For example, masterclasses will be organized for fitness members to discover squash in a spirit of fun and progression.
It’s a true go-to destination for any squash player in Paris, or just passing through the capital.
As a squash player, photographer, and sports and architecture enthusiast, I can say this is a remarkable addition in the very heart of Paris - at a time when many believe squash is losing momentum. This refreshing space does a world of good for our sport, thanks to the ambition behind it. It puts squash back in the spotlight with style and prestige.
