The central post office of France, known as the Poste centrale du Louvre, was designed by Julien Gade (teacher of Auguste Perret) in 1888. The massive building (a square with a side of almost 100 m, occupying an entire block) will now be redesigned to meet the needs of the modern city. The total area of the construction is now 35,000 m², and most of it will be given to establishments that will “improve working conditions for employees”, because they bear a considerable burden: the central office is open 365 days a year and serves 3,000 customers a day.
Dominique Perrault describes his idea as follows: “We will transform this industrial quarter - closed, impenetrable, monolithic - into a city quarter, open to its surroundings”. According to the architect's plan, two underground parking levels will be used for postal machinery; on the ground floor, 10,000 m² will be occupied by the post office itself, and approximately 2,500 m² will be allocated for shops and infrastructure facilities. Above, 10,000 m² of offices will be located, and under the roof and on it there will be a 4-star hotel with a restaurant, as well as a panoramic terrace. Social housing (1200 m²) will appear in the corner rotunda.
In total, it is planned to spend about 80 million euros on the reconstruction of the building. The work will begin in the second half of 2013 and will be completed at the beginning of 2017.
Igor Malinin
