Comptoir de l'Industrie, Art Nouveau commercial building in central Reims, France.
The Comptoir de l'Industrie, at 6-12 rue Cérès, is a 1922 building in a restrained late Art Nouveau of the Nancy School. Its green facade carries mosaics, and two tall fluted pilasters with square carved ornaments frame a central arched window. Above the arch a circular medallion holds the interlocking letters "CIR" in gold and orange, and a balcony with a short stone balustrade rests on a carved scalloped corbel.
Constructed in 1922 by architects Émile Thion and Marcel Rousseau, the building was part of the city's reconstruction efforts following extensive damage during World War I bombardments in 1914.
The facade keeps its green colour and mosaics, and the arch band carries the raised lettering "COMPTOIR DE L'INDUSTRIE". The building is a late, restrained example of the Nancy School of Art Nouveau, a style rare in Reims; the same architects, Émile Thion and Marcel Rousseau, used it for the Opéra cinema on rue de Thillois.
The building occupies 6-12 rue Cérès, with part of the complex reached from rue de la Gabelle, where the city of Reims uses a section. The main facade on rue Cérès is the original one, kept when the building was converted into a residence for the elderly, today run by Korian.
Originally built as a warehouse and sales depot for Laurent et Carrée, a metallurgical supplier founded in 1870, the building later served as a department store before its conversion to residential use.
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