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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Manufacture des tabacs d'Issy-les-Moulineaux was built between 1900 and 1904 to replace the former Parisian manufacture of Gros-Caillou. Designed by engineer Paul Berdin according to the Rolland model (19th century), it embodies a solemn industrial architecture, with a 45 metre chimney and workshops organised around boiler plants. This model plan, developed by Eugène Rolland, aimed at optimal mechanization and smooth circulation between buildings, while affirming the prestige of a state establishment.

Inaugurated in 1904, the factory initially employed 1,200 workers, mostly women, to produce 500 cigarettes per minute. The increased mechanization increased the rate to 1,600 cigarettes in 1930, reducing the number to 533. Specializing in luxury cigarettes (Boyard, Marigny, Gypsies brands), it was destroyed during the German bombing in 1940 and rebuilt after the war. Its production finally ceased in 1977, followed by its inscription in the Historical Monuments in 1984.

Since 1985, architects François Ceria and Alain Coutel rehabilitated the site, partially demolishing the workshops to create a mixed set of housing, offices and shops. The chimney, symbol of the place, was shortened, while the stone administrative building, typical of the Rolland model, was preserved. Today, the former factory illustrates the conversion of industrial heritage into contemporary urban space.

Its architecture combines bricks and stones, with aerial galleries linking the workshops to limit the risks of fire. The two entrance pavilions, the courtyard of honour and the high enclosure walls recall its original vocation. The archives, preserved at the Hauts-de-Seine, testify to its economic and social role, especially during the world wars, where its production was requisitioned for the armies.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1984 (except for Hartmann Street buildings), the factory is now privately owned. Its history reflects the French industrial changes, from the mechanical era to the tertiarization, while preserving a unique working and architectural memory in Île-de-France.

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