Splendor Restored

This retail and office complex is housed within the walls of a former Société Générale branch. While the ornamental façade of the building—originally designed in 1902 by architect Georges-Eugène Balleyguier—remains intact, the rear sections, which feature an original metal frame, underwent extensive modifications starting in 1958, again in 1972, and finally in the 1980s and 1990s. Safe to say, by July 2020 (the date of the architectural competition), the “Croix Rouge U” branch was no longer the “silver palace” of its past, having been reworked and restructured time and again.It did, however, retain several features from its original era: its footprint (approximately 270 sq m), its volume, roofline, street façade, basement vault room, and the entry sequence—from the porch adorned with an allegorical mosaic of the five continents, leading through to the main hall sheltered beneath a glass roof (rebuilt in the 1980s/1990s). The core challenges of this rehabilitation project for an unprotected piece of Parisian banking heritage revolved around preserving the façade, the four floor levels, and the historic structural and material elements.Furthermore, preserving the original hall—the centerpiece of the whole design—required reinventing both its function and its use, ideally while respecting its original spirit.