Rue Saint-Paul, city-side ...

Rue de la Commune, port-side ...

On the corner of Rue de la Commune and Boulevard Saint-Laurent is a type of multipurpose building common in the early 19th century: a shop on Rue Saint-Paul (with living quarters upstairs), a courtyard, and a warehouse facing onto Rue de la Commune. This is the only one of its kind to have survived; it was built in 1822 for the Platt family, and today is used as a restaurant.

The warehouse-shops that appeared in the later 19th century allowed companies to display their wares on Rue Saint-Paul and bring in goods from Rue de la Commune, all in one building. In many cases, their Port-side façades follow the line of the fortifications.

A façade and its cast-iron front, dating from 1886, is the only one of its kind on Rue de la Commune, as this style found no takers among Montréal merchants. The "shop" side, on Rue Saint-Paul, is in fact made of cut stone!