Located at the nexus of the old city and the Eixample, the Plaça de Catalunya is the hub of the modern city, since it provides continuity between the axes of the Rambla and of the Passeig de Gràcia. The buildings on the square gradually became more monumental in character and more specialised in the tertiary sector: commerce and finance. For the headquarters of the Banca Arnús, Sagnier was working on the basis of a pre-existing building from 1873; the facade giving onto Plaça de Catalunya underwent a radical reform, while the side facade giving onto Carrer Rivadeneyra was hardly altered. When, years later, the bank acquired the adjacent building, located on the corner of the Rambla, it was decided to give the combined structure a more monumental appearance to take advantage of its visibility from the Carrer de Pelai. The French-influenced Classicism that Sagnier practised in those years enabled him to resolve the union between the existing block and the newly-built extension, harmonising them through the use of domes at either end and on the corner, above the new main entrance.