Building
© Fondation CIVA Stichting Brussels
Boulevard Anspach 85-87, Pathé Palace, façade (c. 1915).
Boulevard Anspach 85-87, Pathé Palace, façade (c. 1915).
After conquering Paris, the Pathé brothers made it big in Brussels in 1913 with the construction of the capital's first cinema complex, the prestigious Pathé Palace. They harnessed the imagination of Paul Hamesse to transform an existing building and redevelop the entire interior of the block.
While the façade, largely open to the boulevard and surmounted by the iconic rooster, acted as a giant advertisement, the interior was all about luxury and comfort. Hamesse came up with a state-of-the-art design featuring a reinforced-concrete structure, fire-resistant materials, an iron curtain separating the auditorium from the stage (the first such curtain in Brussels), separate projection booths, emergency exits, not to mention a highly sophisticated lighting system and flushing toilets!
For the hall and the numerous foyers, bars and smoking rooms, as well as the façade, the architect drew on designs inspired both by oriental exoticism and the Viennese Secession then in vogue in avant-garde circles. Art Deco was just around the corner…
The large auditorium, by contrast, had a very different feel. Designed for a well-heeled, conventional clientele, the double-galleried space with 1,973 seats adhered to the customary codes of theatre architecture, with its Louis-XVI-style, red and gold decor.
After various changes of use and a radical redesign by architect Alain Richard, the complex has now returned to its cinematic roots: since 2018, it has housed a number of screening rooms, along with spaces used for multicultural activities. Only the old bar on the first floor – ironically named Foyer Hamesse – still testifies to the building's original opulence.
Nearby
By the same architect
While the façade, largely open to the boulevard and surmounted by the iconic rooster, acted as a giant advertisement, the interior was all about luxury and comfort. Hamesse came up with a state-of-the-art design featuring a reinforced-concrete structure, fire-resistant materials, an iron curtain separating the auditorium from the stage (the first such curtain in Brussels), separate projection booths, emergency exits, not to mention a highly sophisticated lighting system and flushing toilets!
For the hall and the numerous foyers, bars and smoking rooms, as well as the façade, the architect drew on designs inspired both by oriental exoticism and the Viennese Secession then in vogue in avant-garde circles. Art Deco was just around the corner…
The large auditorium, by contrast, had a very different feel. Designed for a well-heeled, conventional clientele, the double-galleried space with 1,973 seats adhered to the customary codes of theatre architecture, with its Louis-XVI-style, red and gold decor.
After various changes of use and a radical redesign by architect Alain Richard, the complex has now returned to its cinematic roots: since 2018, it has housed a number of screening rooms, along with spaces used for multicultural activities. Only the old bar on the first floor – ironically named Foyer Hamesse – still testifies to the building's original opulence.
