Marseille 11th - Old Rivoire and Carret factory
- department: Bouches-du-Rhône
- municipality: Marseille
- naming: Old usine Rivoire and Carret
- address : 11 avenue du Docteur Heckelauteurs: Germain FAURE, 1988 extension: ATELIER D'ARCHITECTURE DE MONTGRAND: SCPA "M.BUISSON, J. PASQUA, J-J. SCAMPINI"
- date: 1925-1930 and 1988
- ACR label: Commission régionale du patrimoine et des sites (CRPS) of 3 July 2012
It was in 1860 with the cousins Carret and Rivoire that the history of the French pasta industry began; they created their first factory in Lyon. In order to get closer to the sources of raw materials, especially from the Maghreb, from 1890 to 1892, the Carret & Rivoire cousins set up shop in Marseille with their first factory in the Huveaune valley, in St Marcel.
In 1925, the brothers Francisque and Joannès Carret bought the land of La Pomme - La Valbarelle, and had a set of industrial buildings built there that they equipped with all the elements, tools, fluids, etc. needed to manufacture pasta.
This is largely the Rivoire & Carret factory that we know today. In 1931, Francisque and Joannès became part of the capital of the Société Industrielle de Pâtes Alimentaires (SIPA), managed by Jean and Yves Carret, bringing the factory which has already begun operation.
In 1934, the Carret family took part in the purchase of the "Jardins de La Pomme", where Gaston Castel built the future city of Michelis which will house part of the SIPA workers.
The St Marcel factory closed in 1948 and was transferred to the La Pomme - La Valbarelle factory, which took the name Rivoire & Carret.
From 1971, the company became Rivoire and Carret - Lustucru.
In 1988, the La Pomme - La Valbarelle factory was enlarged and in 2000 the Rivoire & Carret brand disappeared in favour of Lustucru.
In March 2003, the plant ceased operations.
The Rivoire and Carret factory site is deeply embedded in the urban fabric of the area. The flat land, almost square in shape and with an area of 47000 m² is limited to the North by the motorway linking Marseille to Aubagne. To the south, it is the boulevard of La Valbarelle, on the highway 8, which runs alongside it, and to which it presents its noble face. The main facade is turned towards the village core of La Valbarelle, to the west, and preceded by a wide esplanade, completely clearing the view of the building from the space of the street. To the east, the complex is adjoining another industrial group. This inscription in the urban fabric is completed by its joint ownership with the boulevard of Dr Heckel that connects the village nuclei of La Valbarelle and La Pomme. Finally, the presence of the railway and the Huveaune, in direct proximity to the north of the site finish to inscribe the site in the morphology of the area.
The site is enclosed by a masonry wall with "cement chaperone". To the west, the entrance gate adjoins a small reception building, opening both on the street and on the factory.
The complex consists of several buildings organized according to a network of open or covered circulations. The different entities are of unequal architectural values. If the whole complex is of modest design, the western and southern parts, turned on the district, present elements of model nature such as mouldings and cornices.
The south building, of neoclassical design, of a length of 100 m, is followed by an industrial building of 60 m. The main building rises on three levels for its western part and on two levels on its eastern part. The south facade is punctuated in all its length by a succession of bays, semi-circular on the ground floor and rectangular on the upper levels. The entrance is through a front body on the west face.
The main façade is arranged around a chimney flanked by two water towers. Part of the identity of the factory, the complex is nicknamed "the White Lady" or "White Cathedral" by the inhabitants of the district. It extends on each side by a single-storey building taking the motif of the bay in semi-circular form more spaced apart.
Behind these "facade buildings", vast blind warehouses lit up on the roof occupy the site; a vast free belt is reserved for circulations on the entire periphery. These buildings, about 8 metres high, are covered with two-slope flat-tile roofs with the exception of a reinforced concrete terrace roof. Frames and floors are made of iron and wood. Finally, all facades are covered with a concrete coating imitating the ashlar.
The group of industrial buildings delivered in 1931 covered an area of 13521 m2. The factory’s many outbuildings included the boiler room, the manager’s and concierge’s quarters, the electrical substation and pump room for the water supply, and two 135 m3 reinforced concrete tanks. A system of pipes in sandstone allowed the evacuation of the water towards the Huveaune.
After remaining unused for 9 years, the buildings do not seem to have suffered too much damage, but none of the industrial equipment that occupied the interior remains. Only modifications: installation of an underground repository of flammable liquid in 1941 and construction in 1988 of laboratories and various offices on the northern part.
Finally, some interior renovations were carried out in 2005 by the company DT Est.
- Editor: Maruschka Croizer, drac paca, 2012
- Source: Association "Rives et Culture"
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