Accepting the offer, he rapidly built up a small congregation, which soon asked the Continental Committee of the Free Church of Scotland to finance a permanent clerical post.

The first services were held in the Musée industriel, rue Chaucrau, or in the chapel of the Église libre des Terreaux, but very quickly Buscarlet gathered the necessary funds for the construction of a dedicated building.

He engaged one of the most celebrated French architects of the period, Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (who was then working on the restoration of Lausanne Cathedral), to draw up plans for a new church.

The building is of interest for its asymmetric architectural shape and its finely crafted timbered roof, both inspired by rural English and Scottish churches.

In addition, its interior layout and furnishings are original: the pews, the raised central pulpit (reached by two converging staircases), the Communion table and the celebrants’ seats were realised according to the designs of Viollet-le-Duc.