Grasse - Ancienne Chaufferie centrale des parfumeurs
- Department: Alpes-Maritimes
- Town: Grasse
- Appellation: former Central Boiler Room of perfumers
- Address:
- Authors: André Bruyère and Jean Prouvé
- Date: 1962
- Labelling: 29 November 2017
«Capital of flowers», Grasse becomes in the middle of the 19th century «capital of perfume». An industrial capital, as evidenced by the many factory chimneys that punctuate the urban landscape of Grasse on pre-war photographs. During the last third of the 20th century, this landscape is changing with the evolution of the processes of extraction of odorous molecules: the fifteen chimneys, which constituted very detectable urban signals, Almost all of this disappears as a result of the installation of state-of-the-art production facilities on the outskirts of the city. Brownfields, near the old centre, were quickly replaced by housing programs. Today remains the highest of these chimneys, that of the former central boiler room.
In 1962, faced with the need to modernize their equipment and with the common desire to rationalize the industrial space, Seven perfumer houses in Grasse decided to pool their tools of work and had a coal-fired steam production plant built in order to be able to carry out distillation by steam injection in optimal conditions.
The perfumers, united in SARL under the name SOPRODIVAG (SOciété de PROduction de VApeur de Grasse), entrust the technical implementation to the company Laurent Bouillet. The company orders from André Bruyère who then calls on his friend Jean Prouvé. Two already major figures of French architecture are brought together on this project.
Near the train station, in the Rastiny valley, André Bruyère designs on the site of the Cauvi perfumery a hangar 35 meters long by 17 meters wide and 9 meters high under entering, Designed to accommodate 3 boilers with a production capacity of 16 tonnes of steam per hour. This equipment alone powers seven factories in the same neighbourhood. The three original metal chimneys were replaced in 1968 by a 70-metre high concrete chimney so that the fumes from the burning of coal could be evacuated without nuisance to the neighbourhood.
The foundations are made of reinforced concrete, while the elevated portion above the ground is fully supported by six large, curved metal beams to form a single-panel roof sloping backwards. If it is distinguished by the absence of overhang of the roof on the facades, this portico device, which allows to preserve a completely free interior space, can recall the constructive principle of Jean Prouvé said «with crutch» applied to the construction of emergency schools during the 1950s.
The entrance facade, to the north, is a curtain wall made of corrugated sheet metal, consisting of six fixed bays each designed as a shutter. This device, qualified by André Bruyère “huge ventilation grid”, ensures a permanent ventilation of the boiler room; the sheet metal slats of the flaps that undulate like waves optimize the ventilation and “from the common place bring forth the work of art” (A. Bruyère). Metal spans alternate with glass spans that provide natural lighting for the room. The glass panels are maintained by facade stiffeners, a system developed and used by Jean Prouvé in 1935.
The 1980s were a time of crisis for the Grasse perfume industry. Most factories closed. In 1986, it was the turn of Cauvi, and with it the activity of the central boiler room ceased. The remaining plants then use individual gas boilers.
An important milestone in Grasse perfumery, the central boiler room is a testament to the contribution of architecture to technical innovation in the traditional perfumery sector. This elegant and efficient building is the only example of collaboration between the two contractors.
Author: DRAC PACA 2019
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