Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The building at 36 rue Salignat in Vichy is an emblematic building of the Art Deco style, built in the 1st quarter of the 20th century by architects Chanet and Liogier. Its structure rises on five floors, combining smooth surfaces, broken angles and simplified ancient reminiscences, characteristic of movement. The facade is distinguished by an overhanging forebody above the entrance, a balcony reigning on the second floor, and an oriel rising on three upper levels. Polygonal balconyes (3rd floor), columned loggias (4th floor) and back terraces (last level) are rhythmic. The decorative details include ironwork (door and guard), a patch mosaic above the entrance, and polychrome earthenware on windows' allegories and lightways. Inside, the vestibule, mailboxes, wall coverings, ceilings and elevator cage retained their original decoration, showing a rare stylistic unit.

The building illustrates the thermal and architectural age of Vichy, when the city, capital of the lifestyle arts and resorts under the Third Republic, attracts an easy clientele. The Art Deco style, then in vogue, symbolizes modernity and luxury, meeting the expectations of a bourgeoisie seeking elegance. The use of beige granulated concrete on the ground floor (painted in cream on the floors) reflects the technical innovations of the era, while the carpentry of the garage gate highlights the attention paid to functional details. These aesthetic and material choices are part of an urban context marked by real estate speculation and the transformation of central neighbourhoods, where architecture becomes a vector of social prestige.

Ranked a historic monument by order of 4 March 1991, the building enjoys partial protection covering the street façade, the entrance hall (with its mailboxes and luminaires) and the elevator cage. This official recognition enshrines its heritage interest, both for its successful Art Deco style and for the quality of its conservation, both outdoor and indoor. The building is thus part of the Vichyssian architectural landscape, alongside other achievements of the same period, bearing witness to the thermal and worldly identity of the city at the beginning of the twentieth century.

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