Located in the port area of Barcelona, the New Customs House occupies a site in the area of expansion for the new wharfs and replaced the former customs facilities located in an 18th-century building near the old port. One of the aims of the new building was create an impressive maritime entrance to the city while, at the same time, rationalising the customs procedures for cargo.

The architect Pere Garcia Fària, a specialist in the city’s sanitation and a civil engineer, collaborated with Sagnier on this project. The commission was formulated in 1890 but the project was not approved until 1895, after having been subjected to many changes and having overcome many difficulties. It is an H-shaped building because the customs officials’ original idea was for cargo to enter at one end of the building, pass through the customs hall and leave by the other end. In practice, however, the building could not be used in such a rational manner due to the bureaucratic procedures employed.

The building has a grand appearance reminiscent, in some ways, of central-European architecture, and this is especially true of the facade that faces the city. The architectural lines are of a more sober character on the facade facing the wharfs. The central body of the building is crowned by two large eagles, the work of the sculptor Eusebi Arnau, and at each end there are four griffins, or winged lions. Contemporary reports criticised the excessive size of these decorative elements “belonging to the world of fauna” and the fact that the new building did not show its purpose clearly.