COLMAR : Cathédrale

The revival of a sleeping beauty, facing the Collégiale Saint-Martin. It was a former industrial and commercial hub in the heart of old Colmar. Built from 1880, it bears witness to the industrial era and the rise of global trade from the second half of the XIX century until the Second World War. The complex belonged to the firm « Gastard et Fils », which specialised in the wholesale trade of colonial products as well as coffee roasting. The offices and shops were located in the buildings facing the street. Coffee roasting took place in a building on the courtyard, and the stables in another building accessible only through the courtyard. It became the property of Crédit Mutuel Bartholdi from 1948. A courtyard heart, 7 buildings, 3 000 m2, two courtyards and, at its centre, a forgotten lane. Everywhere, traces of the intense activity once found here. The street façades, characteristic of late XIX-century Colmar architecture, are finely crafted and carefully ornamented, revealing the nobility of sandstone and the graphic structure of red brick. On the courtyard side, the remarkable heritage features are still present: a 1900 façade with a harmonious composition, combining sandstone, red brick, metal, wood and cathedral glazing, a magnificent Renaissance doorway dating from 1625, and a spiral staircase turret. But also half-timbered façades, timber and wrought-iron galleries, and buildings with an industrial, restrained and rigorous character.