BEAUDOUIN, Eugene (1898-1983) of Paris, France was among a number of progressive modernist architects to emerge in Europe after WWI. Trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and at the French Academy in Rome, Beaudouin formed a partnership with Marcel Lods, another talented designer, in 1925. Over the next fifteen years they designed several landmark works including the Open Air School at Suresnes, France (1935), the Maison du Peuple at Clichy, France (1939) and the winning design for the World's Fair in Paris (1937). In Canada the team of Beaudouin & Lods can be credited with one major work, that of the French Legation, Sussex Drive near John Street, OTTAWA, ONT., 1936-39 (C.R., Vol. 50, 22 Jan. 1936, 28; Ottawa Journal, 21 May 1936, 1 & 18, descrip.; 5 Jan. 1939, 3, descrip.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xvi, March 1939, 56-62, illus. & descrip.; Globe & Mail [Toronto], 26 Sept. 1992, C6, illus. & descrip.; Andrew Waldron, Exploring the Capital: An Architectural Guide to the Ottawa-Gatineau Region, 2017, 114-15, illus. & descrip.).
Combining both the ambassadorial residence and the embassy in one building, the exterior is surprisingly reserved and clad in grey Quebec granite, but the Art Deco interiors are grand and spacious, making use of native French materials in an impressive ensemble to display the work of French artists, painters, sculptors and engravers throughout the building. The entire structure is fitted with bronze windows designed and built by Jean Prouve, the French pioneer of prefabricated building technology and an innovative furniture designer. In 1940 Beaudouin & Lods closed their office; after WWII Beaudouin continued to design major housing developments and public buildings in France and in Africa, including the French Embassy in Accra, Ghana, 1948 and the Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, 1958 (biog. & list of works M. Emmanuel, Contemporary Architects, 1980, 79-81, 478-9; Dictionnaire de l'Architecture du XX Siecle, 1996, 100)