The Refuge was undertaken by the Salvation Army in 1929 and, after the overcoming of many difficulties, was inaugurated on 7 December 1933. It is the first building for human habitation entirely hermetically sealed, comprising 10,000 ft.2 of fenestration without opening sash. The interior is supplied by a forced air system giving results perfect in winter and quite satisfying in summer. This forced air installation was made on a very small budget. The results were sufficient to permit the best hopes for the future utilization of the system.
The construction is of reinforced concrete: a frame of concrete columns and slabs with hollow terracotta wall and floor units. The columns rest on reinforced concrete piles driven to a depth of 36-45 ft. The subsurface was instable, being subject to the underground waters of the Seine.
