Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Metropole building, built between 1929 and 1931 in Rouen, embodies Art Deco architecture in the station district, marked by Art Nouveau influences. Designed by the Parisian architect Émile Bois for the Reibel heirs, its concrete structure dressed in stone marries a triangular plot between rue Jeanne-d'Arc and rue Verte. The entrepreneur Chouard de Bihorel supervised the works, completed in 1931, while in 1932 Etienne Villette added the café Le Métropole, an emblematic place frequented by Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir since its opening in December 1932.

The café, directed by Jean Olivier from 1956 to 2001, became a high place of student and bourgeois life in the wheelhouse, before its final closure in February 2025. The building, representative of the Decorative Arts, was protected in 2000 with its front and interior decoration (lights, countertop), followed by the total registration of the building in 2004. Its decor, unchanged from the beginning, bears witness to the golden age of literary cafes and the modern urbanization of Rouen in the 20th century.

Integrated with an architectural ensemble linked to the station, the Metropole dialogue with the tramway (station Gare-Rue Verte) and illustrates the transition between Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The sources, including the Mérimée archives and the works of Patrice Quéréel, underline his role in the Rouennais heritage, between historical heritage and the recent disappearance of his mythical café. The accuracy of its location (111-117 rue Jeanne-d的Arc) and its Insee code (76540) permanently anchor the building in the history of the Seine-Maritime.

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