Bernard Poyet

A native of Dijon, Poyet was a student of Charles de Wailly who, in 1766, charged him with supervising the construction of a barn stable at the Château des Ormes.

Although a utilitarian structure, it included the installation of a sculpted pediment, depicting the goddess Cybele, by the King's sculptor, Augustin Pajou.

Upon his return, he was named official architect to Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and oversaw some small construction projects in the suburbs.

In 1806, as a close associate of Lucien Bonaparte, he was entrusted to redesign and replace the decorations on the façade of the Palais Bourbon facing the Seine.

Several large projects were never realised; notably a plan to reconstruct the Hôtel-Dieu on the Île des Cygnes, in circular form, modelled after the Colosseum, with 5,000 beds.