- Crédit Lyonnais headquarters
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Coordinates: 48°52′14.95″N 2°20′11.45″E / 48.8708194°N 2.3365139°E
Credit Lyonnais headquartersLocated near the metro stations: Quatre-Septembre or Richelieu - Drouot. 
The Crédit Lyonnais headquarters (the headquarters of the French bank Crédit Lyonnais, now LCL) is installed in a haussmannian style building in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. It is located on a quadrilateral formed by the Boulevard des Italiens, the rue de Gramont, the rue du Quatre-Septembre and the rue de Choiseul.
Contents
Construction
The roof lantern lighting the staircase
- 1863: Foundation of the Credit Lyonnais in the French town of Lyon.
- 1876 - 1883: Construction of the main branch in Paris. A block of 1,590 m2 was purchased in Paris. Then, the hotel Boufflers-Rouvenel was demolished to make way for the headquarters of Credit Lyonnais, designed by the architect William Bouwens van der Boijen. The building was built in the Haussmannian style to impress customers and investors. The building was also planned so that it could be converted into a department store in case of bankruptcy.[1]
- 21 March 1878: Building inaugurated in the presence of Léon Gambetta, at that time director of the Budget Committee of the National Assembly.[2]
The building is organized around a large double helix similar to the one in Chateau de Chambord. The building was a real success : it was necessary to deliver "permission to visit" tickets ![1]
- 1882 : Official transfer of Crédit Lyonnais's headquarters from Lyon (where the bank was founded) to Paris.
- 1913: Completion of construction by the architect Victor Laloux. The building was gradually extended to the whole quadrilateral between the Boulevard des Italiens, the rue de Choiseul, rue du Quatre Septembre and rue de Gramont.
Structure of the building
The pavillon de l'Horloge (Palais du Louvre) was the model of the central pavilionThe 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 glass at 21 metres height achieved by the workshop of Gustave Eiffel. The glass on the side of the boulevard of the Italians is more impressive than 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 the frame, like a hall metal by institutions 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 the 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 cross the building, a huge hall, lit by 310 gas burners, opened between rows of desks in the English fashion, without grids or windows. In the same spirit of open space, the offices were not separated. "Bulkheads are only used by employees to read freely their newspapers!" said Henri Germain. For the management, at the first floor, the doors were with mahogany paneling and draperies of green reps. The securities service moved first from Lyon to Paris. Vouchers were kept in 195 safes Fichet in the basement, surrounded by a walkway and serviced by a staircase at the top where an ashtray is marked "Turn off your cigars."[2]
The double revolution staircase
Inside the building, there is a double revolution staircase (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) by 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.
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Double balustrade in the stairs for management
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Simple balustrade in the stairs for employees
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Stairs for management
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Stairs for employees
Formerly and now
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The grand staircase in the 1920's
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The same in 2009
Ulterior evolutions
- 1957: A proposal to construct a high-rise tower block of 20 floors within the old building is rejected[2] Facilities of heating, lighting and ventilation are modernised.
- Early 1970s: Complete renovation in the spirit of that time, with the goal to locate more employees on the site. The first data processing systems are installed. The securities hall, built by Eiffel, is demolished and the space used for offices.[2] The offices of the ground floor no longer have windows, while those on the upper floors are organized around a small atrium that will play a terrible role in the subsequent fire.
- 14 May 1976: The chairman of Crédit Lyonnais, Jacques Chaine is murdered by a deranged gunman at the entrance to the building.
- April 1996 - A large part of the French film Le cri de la soie is shot in the hall on the side of rue du Quatre-Septembre. The movie was set in a department store.
The fire on Sunday 5 May 1996
Source :[3]
- 8:24 : A monitor reports a fire in the trading room.
- 8:26 : Two security officers go to the scene, firefighters are called.
- 8:32 : Twenty firefighters from the saint-Honoré barracks arrive at rue de Choiseul. Doors are unlocked to let them enter and fight the fire.
- 9:15 : Fire spreads rapidly in the trading room, a large space with no partitions or fire doors (to allow traders to communicate freely). More than a hundred firefighters are on site.
- 9:41 : message about the fire released by Agence France-Presse.
- 11 am : The fire in the trading room seems under control.
- 11h20 : The slab of garden located above the trading room collapses : a huge blast effect creates multiple outbreaks of fire.
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 room safe was partially flooded.
After the fire
After the fire which caused enormous damage, the Credit Lyonnais sells his headquarters for 1.3 billion francs to the insurer AIG.[2]
Cental escutcheon reinstalled in 2008Since the beginning, the building was open to the public that could pass through it in all its length. With the main branch of the bank, a branch for the employees and the international branch. After the fire, the building is divided in two separate spaces. Credit Lyonnais keeps the historic part called "Hotel des Italiens", about a quarter of the building on the side of the boulevard des Italiens. With the offices of the direction, the council room and the double revolution staircase.
The part of the building on the side of the rue du Quatre-Septembre has suffered hard damages. It was renamed "Centorial", in particular to reuse the logo CL on the facade.
- Summer 2008 : At request of the architect of French buildings, relocation of a large lead piece at the top of the main entrance. It has been removed during restorations in the 1950s. It is a decorative piece with the escutcheon of the town of Lyon, where the Credit Lyonnais was founded.
Its features are impressive: 4.30 m wide and 3.50 m high at 36 m height. Weight: 4 tons. It was created by Jean-Claude Duplessis, ornementist and best worker of France.[4]
Formerly and now
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Main hall in the 1920's
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Main hall in 2009 (looking to west)
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Main hall in 2009 (looking to east)
Centorial
HQ, side of rue du Quatre-Septembre in 1913
The same, renamed Centorial, in march 2009After 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 have to combine respect for classified part the building (the large metal canopy built by Eiffel workshops), the need for a modern office building, and the wish to remember 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 remember the securities hall of the original building.
In 2005, the employees of the French economic newspaper Les Échos left rue de la Boétie and moved into the building. Some departments of LCL (new name of Credit Lyonnais) were also installed in the building.
Centorial website
Formerly and now
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Original securities hall
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Original main gallery
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Gallery recreated in the new building "Centorial"
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"Centorial" replaced "Credit Lyonnais" on the frontispiece of rue du 4-septembre
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Lobby, side rue du 4 septembre in the 1920's
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The same in 2009
Traces of a plane bomb in 1918Anecdote
- The wall of rue de Choiseul near the corner with the rue du Quatre Septembre shows traces of a German "plane bomb" exploded on 30 January 1918.
References
- ^ a b Christian de Montella : 19, Bd des Italiens. Le Crédit Lyonnais, culture et fondation, Jean-Claude Lattès editor, nov-1987, 94 p
- ^ a b c d e http://www.lexpansion.com/economie/le-siege-du-lyonnais_22410.html
- ^ 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.
- ^ "postcards of the 1900s, colorized or not". paris1900.lartnouveau.com. http://paris1900.lartnouveau.com/paris02/lieux/le_credit_lyonnais.htm. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
External links
Categories:- 2nd arrondissement of Paris
- Buildings and structures in Paris
- History of Paris
- Bank headquarters
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