Rue de Paris is a historical thoroughfare linking the outer harbor area to the City Hall, and was rebuilt close to its original route. Auguste Perret retraced the avenue, the oldest in Le Havre, taking into consideration its history and its commercial functions. He took inspiration from Rue de Rivoli in Paris, the archetypal arcade-lined street.

Rue de Paris in Le Havre is thus lined with a series of walkways under porticoes. The street levels of the buildings house retail premises with a mezzanine level above. They are visually separated from the higher apartment stories by elegant balconies running the length of the buildings. Complying with a 6.24-meter urban layout model, the various blocks differ from one another in the treatment of their concrete and columns, the number and shape of their balconies, and the geometry of their loggias, windows and screen walls, resulting in a wide variety of architectural interpretations but forming a cohesive urban whole.