Its long nave, over 120 meters long, bathed in natural light, is called the “cathedral”. However, it is indeed a factory, and it is a first in Nantes, which celebrated its registration as a historical monument by unveiling its plaque this Tuesday morning. Located in the northeast of the city, next to Haluchère station, the Batignolles factory has been protected since this summer for “its history and its architectural interest”. A way not to forget “the 40 years of railway industry” which brought life to this vast site of 16 ha, unknown to the inhabitants, even if frequented today by some 200 employees of the company Kelvion Thermal Solutions.
“In its heyday, more than 2,000 people worked here, it was still the countryside with worker housing estates all around, says Solen Peron-Bienvenu, researcher at the regional directorate of cultural affairs (Drac). Assembly, lifting, assembly… The locomotives that came out of here whole, directly via the railway, were the ambassadors of a great house, that of the Gouïn family. »
It was in 1918 that the owners of the Société de construction des Batignolles (SCB), cramped in their Parisian premises, decided to build these ten naves in Nantes (where they came from), under the supervision of the famous engineer Eugène Freyssinet. “It is a complex built in reinforced concrete and organized in a very coherent way, with each nave corresponding to a stage of construction, continues Solen Peron-Bienvenu. What is also remarkable, if not exceptional, is that over the years, even after being bombed twice during the Second World War, the site has always been linked to industrial production. »
After tank turrets, torpedo tubes and even printing presses, it is heat exchangers that Kelvion Thermal Solutions produces here more than a hundred years later, in premises that are all the same beginning to show signs of deterioration. ‘wear.
“Keep the spirit of the place”
Waterproofing, repairs to the facades… This “high place of memory for employers and workers” will also be the subject of a major renovation project in the years to come. A “difficult” restoration insofar as “the objective is to preserve the architectural value and preserve the spirit of the place”, announces the architect Pierluigi Pericolo, in charge of the file. Kelvion Thermal Solutions is planning an annual investment of 600,000 euros for four years so that this historical monument, which is less and less atypical, retains its soul.
“Traditional heritage (churches and castles, works of art and furniture) continue to form the majority of protected assets each year, indicates the regional directorate for cultural affairs. However, a significant increase in the categories of protected property has taken place since the 1970s: gardens, (…), industrial, scientific and technical heritage (factories, buildings and railway structures, boats, trains, etc.) now occupy a place not insignificant among listed and listed properties. »