Crédit Lyonnais headquarters

Coordinates: 48°52′14.95″N 2°20′11.45″E / 48.8708194°N 2.3365139°E / 48.8708194; 2.3365139

Credit Lyonnais headquarters
Located near the Métro stations: Quatre-Septembre and Richelieu – Drouot.

The Crédit Lyonnais headquarters (the headquarters of the French bank Crédit Lyonnais, now LCL) is a Haussmannian style building in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. It is located on the block formed by the Boulevard des Italiens, the rue de Gramont, the rue du Quatre-Septembre and the rue de Choiseul.

Construction

The roof lantern lighting the staircase

The building is organized around a large double helix similar to the one in Chateau de Chambord. The building became a popular place; the bank had to provide "permission to visit" tickets.[1]

Structure of the building

The pavillon de l'Horloge (Palais du Louvre) was the model of the central pavilion

The stone cladding, a traditional symbol of wealth, conceals a metal frame, partially produced by the workshops of Gustave Eiffel.

The office space is organized on several levels, from both sides of a gallery lightened through a glass: the whole offices are visible by the public and the management.

A hall is located at each end of the building, each lit by a 21 metre high window from the workshop of Gustave Eiffel. The windows on the side of the Boulevard des Italiens are more impressive than those on the side of the rue du Quatre-Septembre. It hosts in the floors the offices of the General Staff of the bank.

The Hall of Securities at the time was designed as a metal framework by Eiffel.

On the outside, on the Boulevard des Italiens, the central pavilion is based on Pavillon de l’Horloge of the Palais du Louvre. The pediment, carved by Camille Lefèvre, is an allegory of banking activities: it represents the bank distributing loans, surrounded by Trade and Industry, and the rivers Rhone and the Seine. It is supported by four groups of caryatids around a large clock by sculptor Désiré-Maurice Ferrary.

When it opened, the building housed one of the first electrical installations. To provide light to the room of safes, a part of the floor was composed of glass tiles manufactured by Saint-Gobain. To impress people and encourage them to come in, a huge waiting room, lit by 310 gas burners, opened on to rows of desks in the English fashion, without screens or windows. In the same spirit of open space, the offices were not separated. "Walls are only used by employees to read their newspapers!" said Henri Germain. For the management, on the first floor, the doors were with mahogany paneling and draperies of green reps. The securities service moved first from Lyon to Paris. Stocks and bonds were kept in 195 Fichet safes in the basement, surrounded by a walkway and serviced by a staircase at the top where an ashtray is marked "Put out your cigars."[2]

The double revolution staircase

Inside the building, there is a double revolution (or double helix) staircase, which is famous. It was inspired by the staircase of the Chateau de Chambord. Both have the same goal: allow two populations to use the same stairs without meeting each other; there was a stair (with dual balustrade) for the management, and another (with single balustrade) for the employees.

The stairs continue with metal stairs from the second floor and the fourth, but still in double revolution. The use of metal is characteristic of the industrial era. A glass roof, 30 metres above the ground, illuminates the entire staircase.

Some offices are accessible via classic stairs at the 5th floor and even at the 6th floor in the main pavilion located above the entrance of the Boulevard des Italiens.

Later developments

1996 fire

On Sunday, 5 May 1996, a fire started in the trading room of the building. It eventually spread to burn more than two-thirds of the building.[3]

600 firefighters were mobilized and spent about 19 hours extinguishing the fire. Two thirds of the building located on the side of rue du Quatre-Septembre were devastated. The safe room was partially flooded.

After the fire

After the fire, Credit Lyonnais sold the building to the insurer AIG for 1.3 billion.[2]

Central escutcheon reinstalled in 2008

Since the beginning, the building was open to the public, who could pass through its entire length, including the main branch of the bank, an office for the staff, and the international office. After the fire, the building was divided into two separate spaces. Credit Lyonnais kept the historic part, called the "Hotel des Italiens". This is about a quarter of the building on the side of the boulevard des Italiens, which contains the director's offices, the council chamber, and the double revolution staircase. The part of the building on the side of the rue du Quatre-Septembre suffered heavy fire damage. It was renamed "Centorial", in particular to reuse the logo CL on the facade.

In summer 2008, at the request of the architect of French buildings, a large lead ornament that had been removed during restorations in the 1950s was reinstalled at the top of the main entrance, 36 m above the ground.. It is a decorative piece with the escutcheon of the town of Lyon, where Credit Lyonnais was founded. It is 4.30 m wide and 3.50 m high and weighs 4 tons. It was created by Jean-Claude Duplessis, ornamental artist and Meilleur Ouvrier de France.[4]

Centorial

HQ, side of rue du Quatre-Septembre in 1913
The same, renamed Centorial, in March 2009

After the fire, huge reconstruction works began in January 2001 by AIG French Property Fund, for the new owner of the building (Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH), under the direction of the architect Jean-Jacques Ory. These works had to combine respect for historically listed part of the building (the large metal canopy built by Eiffel's workshops), the need for a modern office building, and the wish to preserve the original architecture.

The trading room (where the fire broke out) and the hanging garden situated above it were replaced by a long gallery with a metal canopy that recalls the securities hall of the original building.

In 2005, the employees of the French business newspaper Les Échos left rue de la Boétie and moved into the building. Some departments of LCL (new name of Credit Lyonnais) also have offices in the building.

References

  1. 1 2 Christian de Montella : 19, Bd des Italiens. Le Crédit Lyonnais, culture et fondation, Jean-Claude Lattès editor, nov-1987, 94 p
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 http://www.lexpansion.com/economie/le-siege-du-lyonnais_22410.html
  3. ↑ Special issue of the internal review "Life at Credit Lyonnais" dedicated to the fire and the very quick restart of the bank. Specially the trading room working "as usual" one day later.
  4. ↑ "postcards of the 1900s, colorized or not". paris1900.lartnouveau.com. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
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