On September 19, 1914, Reims Cathedral suffered a massive fire as a result of bombardments. Twenty years were needed to restore the building. The architect Henri Deneux, who was in charge of creating a new frame for the cathedral, based his work on a technique dating from the Renaissance. Philibert Delorme, architect of French King Henry II, imagined a construction technique that consisted of assembling small prefabricated pieces of wood to create larger and lighter structures. This technique would later lead to the laminated frame innovation. Henri Deneux applied Philibert Delorme's idea to Reims Cathedral, but with reinforced concrete instead of wood.