Ancienne imprimerie nationale

The former Imprimerie Nationale, or National Printing Office, is a sprawling industrial block distinguished by its red and ochre enamelled bricks and a vast metal-framed roof. Built between nineteen oh three and nineteen twenty-four by architect Alphonse Didelot, this site was designed to consolidate the state's printing operations, which had outgrown their historic location at the Hôtel de Rohan. The scale of the facility reflects a period of immense growth; by the early twentieth century, the institution was producing hundreds of millions of sheets annually to meet the demands of international exhibitions and official government business.