The engineer and architect Francois-Leonce Reynaud was appointed to design the station itself. In terms of its basic configuration, the station accommodated a total of six tracks and two large platforms underneath a single shed. This shed, which was divided into two naves, was supported by a series of cast iron columns and wooden trusses; the structure featured a relatively distinctive drainage system that used the hollow columns as drain pipes directly into the city's sewers. Road traffic was directed to a large courtyard set to the side of the station.