Primark Flagship Conversion, Toulouse
Project consultancy and survey reporting for Primark’s first French flagship store, encompassing an 85,000 sq ft retail area in central Toulouse. Consurv provided detailed post-survey reports, managed protracted design team correspondence and facilitated vital collaboration between specialist material suppliers. This included focused oversight on the early twentieth-century façade and heritage window works to ensure the…
History
Toulouse is the 4th largest city in France and the Irish retail chain Primark has chosen a historic building right in the heart of the city which will provide a Retail Area of. 85,000ft² approx. The building is situated on rue Rémusat – Rue Alsace Lorraine. The building was one of the city’s first commercial buildings and has a long history, including being used as a prison during the French Revolution. However, its current design is considered a masterpiece of the architecture from the early twentieth century having been renovated in a Haussmann style, bringing a Parisian feel to the historic capital of Languedoc.
When ‘Les Dames de France’ opened in 1904, Toulousians rushed to get a first glimpse of this ‘Grand New Store’ developed by Parisian Architect Georges Debri to bring a real contrast to the ‘Pink City’s’ architecture. The building of the Rue Alsace Lorraine reflects the elegance with its facade light brick, approaching the colour of the stone, punctuated by three arches, fine metal structure, floral Art Nouveau and especially its three interior floors with a monumental staircase made of wood and illuminated by a central dome.
In 1985, the building changed tenant as ‘Les Galeries Lafayette’ replaced ‘Les Dames de France’ and in 1990, large-scale renovation works began which lasted 14 months. Other transformations followed for the installation of the decoration store ‘Lafayette Maison’ and today only the custom made staircase realized by Coucoureux Architects remains from the original interior design.
Consurv Involvement
The Irish retailer fashion brand ‘Primark’ are set to develop their first flagship French store in the heart of Toulouse. Consurv were appointed to carry out detailed reports following survey together with associated documents, attendance at the design team meeting, protracted correspondence with Design Team and general collaboration between the various specialist suppliers of material.
