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Origin and history

The Jeanne-d'Arc barracks were built in Rouen from 1776, under the impulse of the intendant Louis Thiroux de Crosne, on a plot called the Pré aux Loups, outside the city's eastern ramparts. Directed by the engineer of King Louis-Alexandre de Cessart, the works are part of the sober architectural style of the late eighteenth century. The building, organized around two bodies connected by a central pavilion, has a triangular pediment decorated with French arms and garlands carved by Marin-Nicolas Jadoulle. Two side flags were added between 1785 and 1790, completing the whole.

As soon as it was built, the barracks welcomed military units, a role it retained until the middle of the 20th century. It was home to the 43rd Field Artillery Regiment (1911-1914) and the 11th Artillery Regiment from 1914. After the Liberation, it became a training centre for recruits and a place of repatriation for prisoners and deportees. Ranked a historic monument in 1948, it symbolizes the Romanian military heritage before its civil conversion.

Acquired by the city of Rouen in 1968, the barracks were first used by tax and customs authorities. In 1984, the regional council of Haute-Normandie established its headquarters there, resulting in a complete rehabilitation by architect Alain Elie. A contemporary extension, signed by the Artefact agency in 2004, doubles its east facade. After the 2015 territorial reform, Rouen lost its status as a regional capital to Caen, but the barracks remained an arm of the Normandy Regional Council, hosting some directorates and plenary assemblies. In 2018, risks of collapse associated with adjacent underground parking require prolonged stabilization work.

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