Trouard was born in Paris to a wealthy father who was a sculptor and supplier of marble to the king.
The construction employed a Greek frieze evoking the style of one of his classmates in Rome, Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux.
Under the protection of Monseigneur de Jarente, he was made the architect of the royal commissaries who were responsible for the construction of religious buildings with funds seized from fleeing Protestants.
His students Claude Nicolas Ledoux, Pierre-Adrien Pâris and his own son, Louis Alexandre Trouard, received the grand prize in 1780.
In 1773, Trouard was forced to leave Versailles and return to Paris for his reputed involvement in an embezzlement scandal.