When the idea of opening a bakery inside the Louvre first emerged, it seemed almost impossible. Today, the Boulangerie du Louvre stands as a creative tribute to Paris’ art world while paying homage to French artisan baking, reports Lauren Hurrell
T
he Boulangerie du Louvre in Paris, France, operates beneath the museum’s iconic glass Louvre Pyramid, designed by Chinese- American architect I. M. Pei. This bakery — the first of its kind in a major museum — is the culmination of the creativity, skill and ambition of head bakers
Pascal Rigo and Arnaud Chevalier, who both long dreamed of creating a unique bakery that embodied their vision for artisan French baking. The bakery includes a workshop dedicated to preparing sourdough using Vitus, an ancient starter culture from the Puratos Sourdough Library in St. Vith, Belgium. Through glass windows, guests can observe bread being kneaded, proofed and baked on site in a daily display of traditional French baking techniques. From shaping and scoring the dough to flouring the loaves and finishing croissants and other classic pastries, the process pays tribute to the museum. The bakery layout and workshop, designed
by architects Margaux Lhermitte and Corentin Nicolas from CBA Design, presented a technical challenge, requiring versatile and compact equipment to support intense operations in a gallery that is fully booked and welcomes over 35,000 visitors daily. Of those, around 1,800 are bakery customers, driving daily production of 1,300 pastries and approximately 1,500 to 1,700 loaves of sandwich bread. Naturally, there were myriad challenges, but
for Chevalier, the primary hurdle was safety and convincing relevant personnel that this project was feasible. “There are 58 firemen at the Louvre, and I met almost 55 of them,” says head baker Arnaud Chevalier, “because once they knew that there would be a boulangerie inside the museum, they were concerned.”
Aliworld 33
Kneads must Creating an “open laboratory” bakehouse in a public space, with specifications unlike those of a typical bakery, required careful attention to every safety and production detail. With a 25-square-meter customer-facing area and a 15-square-meter back-of-house production space, the challenge was to produce high volumes safely and efficiently within a tight footprint, something Chevalier specializes in. The project took three years from planning to opening, including two years of discussions and feasibility studies on safety and installation before construction and setup began. “It’s to show the know-how of an artisan
baker, keeping an international audience in mind, because more than 70% of the customers come from abroad,” says Chevalier. This involved serving chocolate croissants instead of the traditional pain au chocolat.
“Producing in mass in 40 square meters is always a challenge”
Arnaud Chevalier Boulangerie du Louvre
The Boulangerie du
Louvre in Paris, France, operates beneath the museum’s iconic
glass Louvre Pyramid
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
