The courthouse building for the Tribunal de Commerce was built between 1859 and 1865. It was ceremoniously inaugurated by Napoleon III on 26 December 1865, and the court's first hearing was held the next day. In the 1930s, it underwent a remodeling that transformed the atrium's ceiling and lower parts of the northern façade, but has otherwise been largely preserved in its original state.

Bottom: Tribunal de commerce de Paris.
The ornate octagonal dome rises to a height of 45 meters (148 feet) and is the building's most distinctive exterior feature. It is positioned to close the perspective of the Boulevard de Sébastopol, and as a consequence, is not aligned with the center of the building's façade.

The main building is crowned by a 45-metre-high eight-sided dome, pierced with bull's-eye windows topped by sculpted pediments.