It was designed by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel and built between 1757 and 1774 on the newly created square first called Place Louis XV.

[1] The identical building across the street, constructed at the same time, now houses the Hôtel de Crillon and the Automobile Club of France.

The building was entirely renovated between 2015 and 2021, for it to now display the restored 18th century apartments of Marc-Antoine Thierry de Ville-d'Avray, the King's Intendant of the Garde-Meuble, as well the salons and chambers later used by the French Navy.

The decision to create the current Place de la Concorde was originally taken in 1748, as the site for an equestrian statue of Louis XV.

The most distinctive feature, the facade of columns facing the square, was largely inspired by the Louvre Colonnade designed by Claude Perrault in 1667–1674.

[5] The Garde-Meuble of the Crown had been created by Henry IV of France in the 17th century, and its head was given more specific duties by Louis XIV under his chief minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert.

[7] In 1789 the Hotel held a large collection of weapons, mostly ceremonial, including swords, medieval lances, and two ornate cannon which Louis XIV had received as gifts from the King of Siam.

On 13 July 1789, a large crowd angry at the King's decision to dismiss his finance minister Jacques Necker marched to the building, encouraged by the radical orator Camille Desmoulins.

The acting intendant, frightened by the angry mob, invited the crowd inside the building to take away the weapons and two cannon, but urged them spare the more valuable art, tapestries and furniture.

The next morning, 14 July 1789, the two cannon from the Hotel de la Marine fired the first shots at the Bastille, launching the French Revolution.

The Secretary of State of the Navy, César Henri de la Luzerne, moved his offices to the Garde-Meuble, and from 1789 onwards it housed the naval ministry.

[10] The interior decor by Jacques Gondouin, inspired by Piranesi, was an important step forward in 18th-century taste, but it was profoundly distorted by changes under the Second French Empire, although the grands salons d'apparat and the Galerie Dorée still maintain some of the original elements.

The building was the scene of several historic events, from a ball honouring the coronation of Napoleon I in 1804, the celebration of the dedication of the Obelisque on the Place de la Concorde by King Louis Philippe in 1836, and the drafting of the decree of the French President abolishing slavery in April 1848.

They remained in place up until the Kriegsmarine had to evacuate its presence due to the approach of American and Free French forces in August 1944.

[11] In 1989 President François Mitterrand invited foreign leaders to the loggia of the hotel to view the parade celebrating the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution.

As director of the Royal Academy of Architecture, Gabriel provided the ideas and plan, while the details and construction were directed by his deptuty, Jacques-Germain Soufflot, fifteen years younger.

[13] The ceiling of the loggia is decorated with sculpted octagonal medallions, representing the benefits the King was said to bring to the nation; there are allegorical symbols of music, the arts, industry, agriculture, defense and commerce.

[15] After a simple anteroom, the first room of the apartments is the ceremonial office of the Intendant, lavishly furnished and decorated with paintings and a floor of multicoloured marquetry.

[17] The apartments also include the bath of the Intendant Fontanieu, in the classical Louis XVI style, with floral motifs on the furniture made popular by Marie-Antoinette.

The walls, ceilings, and doorways were lavishly gilded and decorated with sculpture and mirrors and carvings with nautical themes, including prows of ships, anchors, fish, and sirens.

Under an agreement with the French Ministry of Culture, the gallery will show a rotation of items from the enormous collection of the Al Thani Family for a period of twenty years.

It presents precious objects from ancient civilisations in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East, related by use or theme.