After being stopped one year after the cancellation of its building permit (because of a lack of integration of the modern building into Paris historic fabric) , the construction of the new Samaritaine can resume.
France's Council of State, the highest administrative court of France, has cleared the Samaritaine project of all the all the appeals and its building permit is approved.
This ruling might help the construction of other buildings with a very modern architecture in Central Paris against appeals.
It concluded that a more open interpretation of Article 11 of Paris building code should be held. This article is centered on the need of integration of new buildings into the existing urban fabric.
According to the France's Council of State, the former judgments which cancelate the construction permit have not taken into account other passages in this article that moderate the demand for integration into the existing urban fabric.
France's Council of Statehas found that this article showed himself the desire to avoid the "architectural mimicry," and authorized in a certain extent the issuance of permits for contemporary architectural projects that deviate the "dominant registers" of Parisian architecture in terms of appearance of buildings, and can have "innovative" materials or colors.
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French court clears La Samaritaine Paris store revamp
PARIS, JUNE 19
France's Council of State on Friday gave the green light to the long-delayed 460 million euro ($520 million) makeover of Paris department store La Samaritaine, a landmark building owned by luxury group LVMH .
The renovation, entirely funded by LVMH, owned by France's richest man, Bernard Arnault, is intended to transform La Samaritaine into a multi-use 70,000 square-meter complex with a luxury hotel, designer stores, duty free shops and office space.
"The Conseil d'Etat's decision definitely rejects all the appeals that had been filed against this building permit," the court said in a statement.
France's highest administrative court's decision comes after a lower appeal court in January confirmed a 2014 administrative court decision revoking the permit to renovate a portion of the 145-year-old building, closed since 2005.
Both La Samaritaine and the City of Paris welcomed the ruling, which paves the way for an opening in 2018.
"The Samaritaine duly notes with satisfaction the decision of the Conseil d'Etat which definitively approves the building permit for the renovation of the building located on rue de Rivoli," La Samaritaine said in a statement, adding the renovation will create directly create more than 2,200 jobs.
La Samaritaine, which has a landmark Art Deco facade overlooking the Seine river, was closed in 2005 to meet safety rules and was due to reopen in 2013 after a major renovation.
Two associations - The Society for the Protection of Landscape and Aesthetics of France (SPPEF) and SOS Paris - had gone to court, claiming the project did not respect Paris' visual character.
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http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/0...0Z43DI20150619
