Court blocks Qatari prince plans for Paris mansion

A French court on Tuesday blocked plans by a Qatari prince to modernise a rare 17th-century Paris mansion, after a campaign by residents who fear the plans would destroy an architectural gem.

Locals obtained a court order to stop the work by Prince Abdullah Bin Abdullah Al-Thani, brother of Qatar's emir, who bought the Hotel Lambert on Ile Saint Louis, an island on the River Seine and a UNESCO heritage site, in 2007.

Work had been set to begin next month on turning the dilapidated mansion into a family residence, restoring historic rooms but also putting in elevators and an underground car park, under a culture ministry permit issued in June.

The fast-track ruling by the Paris administrative court suspends all structural work on the listed building until the court's final decision on the 40-million-euro (60-million-dollar) project, expected in the next few months.

"This decision is a first in terms of heritage," said Michel Huet, lawyer for the Paris Historique association fighting on behalf of worried residents of the island, a pristine haven just opposite Notre Dame Cathedral.

Judge Brigitte Vidard put the works on hold because of "shortcomings" in the architect's plans, saying it was unclear what their full impact would be.

Prince Abdullah's counsel Eric Ginter said he was surprised by the ruling, and his client would decide shortly whether to review his plans, appeal now, or await the final ruling.

Built in the 1640s at the eastern tip of Ile Saint Louis, the Hotel Lambert was designed for a rich financier, Nicolas Lambert, by the architect Louis Vau, who went on to oversee an expansion of the Chateau de Versailles for Louis XIV.

Rich with history, the mansion's uses over the years ranged from a hideaway for the 18th-century philosopher Voltaire and his lover, to a political headquarters for Polish exiles in the following century.

The Qatari prince acquired the hotel from the Rothschild banking family for some 60 million euros (86 million dollars) in 2007, and with his son Hamad Bin Abdullah Al-Thani commissioned French architects to restore and convert it.

The project aims to return the building to its 17th-century condition, removing features added in later centuries.

It also involves digging an underground car park and machinery room under the central courtyard and part of the gardens, raising an external wall facing onto the banks of the Seine and an overhaul of the entire west wing.

The plans have already been watered down after months of talks between the French state, Paris city hall and heritage groups, but critics still fear the project will wreck the building.

Ranged around a courtyard with a garden overlooking the Seine, the mansion has fallen into disrepair, with its grand staircase twisted out of shape, sections of floorboard rotting through and part of its roof timber worn out.

But it is still considered one of the finest examples of mid-17th-century domestic French architecture, complete with mural paintings by Charles Le Brun and other masters of the day.

Tuesday's ruling does not challenge the restoration part of the prince's plans, under which key rooms would be refurbished in keeping with the original.

But it blocks the wider modernisation of the building, in particular a plan to pierce an elevator shaft through the floor of Nicolas Lambert's study and section off part of the room to create a bathroom.

The prince's lawyer said the whole project was put on hold by the ruling. "We are not going to start restoring historic paintings before we have redone the electricity or the roof structure."

The culture ministry said it took note of the ruling, but was waiting for the court's final decision before commenting.

Paris city hall said in a statement it still backed the principle of restoring the Hotel Lambert, but hoped the prince's architects could rework their plans to "take heritage issues even further into account."