Model of the building before construction.
The building is made up of the central section, devoted to administrative services, and two wings housing the showrooms for the company's vehicles.
In each wing, a huge column-free space has been built to facilitate the movement of vehicles.
Each of these spaces was covered with a roof formed by a thin vault of reinforced concrete.
The patented "Voûte Chébib" construction technique consisted in constructing a vault-shaped earthen mould on the ground. Steel rods were positioned on the mould and a thin layer of concrete poured over them. The concrete then took the shape of the mould and coated the steel rods.
Once the concrete had hardened, the vault was slowly raised to its final position by an ingenious system of jacks.
Detail of two thin reinforced concrete vaults in the central part.
Another view of the two thin reinforced concrete vaults of the central part.
Discussion for the finishing touches with architects Kecati and Shagouri next to Captain Raymond Flower and Naoum Shebib (on the far right in the photo)
Naoum Shebib was nicknamed the inventor of the "Roof on the floor" following this vault construction on the ground.
Excerpt from an article that appeared in the 1950 March/April edition of a magazine published by Chrysler Corporation, Export Division, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
The fame of the “Vault Chébib” technology went far beyond the Egyptian borders, as evidenced by the article seen here on the left and entitled “They Built the Roof on the Floor”.