The house of the people in Dinant

 

The house of the people in Dinant was built by the architect F. Brunfaut on commission from the "Les Magasins Généraux" cooperative. It is in fact a reconstruction of the town's first house of the people, inaugurated in 1897 and burnt down in 1914 during the First World War.

The multi-coloured building in the neo-Mosan style (red brick, white stone, cut stone and blocks) rises in the centre of Place Patenier. The three levels are distinctive for their openings. The ground floor features two arches providing access to the shop (on the left) and café (on the right). The first floor, formerly a reception room, has three casement and mullioned windows.  This level also has a stone balcony supported by consoles. The second floor has six mullioned windows. It is separated from the floor below by a multi-coloured diamond-shaped frieze. There is a bâtière roof with protruding hipped dormer windows.

Only one original element survives in the interior: the banister rails of the staircase in wrought iron with geometric motifs.

Building listed on 6-07-1982