In late 2004, the French Defence and Culture Ministries agreed that the Hôtel de la Marine needed urgent work and that a sponsor should be found to finance restoration of the 12-column peristyle of the façade and the reception rooms, a project that had been in the pipeline for nearly 30 years.

In April 2006, Bouygues signed France’s first ever skills sponsorship agreement with the Defence and Culture Ministries for a programme of works that would last for more than eighteen months.

For the Group, this involved:
-  financing restoration work on the Hôtel de la Marine on the Place de la Concorde at a cost of €6.2 million (following the decision to restore the former Tapestry Gallery, now the Naval Ports Gallery, the amount has now risen to €7.2 million);
- providing engineering supervision services through Bouygues Bâtiment Île-de-France – Rénovation Privée, a Bouygues Construction subsidiary.
 

Work began in 2007, starting with renovation of the peristyle (the columns of the façade), and was completed in May 2009 after restoration of two State reception rooms and two galleries. Many skilled craftspeople worked on the site at different times, including sculptors, painters, ornamental plasterers, gilders, etc.

(Updated: April 2010)