Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Barbieux medical centre, originally named Barbieux hospice, was designed by Louis Barbotin, a Roubaisian architect and completed in 1894. This project, which won a competition launched in 1880, aimed to create a modern 600-bed facility, organised around a court of honour and separate pavilions (indigent men, infirmary, orphans, indigent women). The land of 32,000 m2, acquired in 1868, included a garden signed by landscaper Georges Aumont, known for Barbieux Park. The monumental entrance was inspired by Chantilly Castle, with polychrome enamelled brick domes and arcades.

There were several major transformations in the hospital. As early as 1906, the orphans left, and a temporary chapel was enlarged by Jules Derégnaucourt (1906–1907). In the 1950s, architect Pierre Neveux raised the buildings to 800 beds, while replacing collective dormitories with individual rooms. In 1924, the Lagache foundation (leg of Julien Lagache in 1879) was built to accommodate pensioners, under the direction of Paul Destombes-Prévost. The establishment, run by the Sisters of the Child Jesus until 1983, was enrolled in historical monuments in 1998.

In 2023, the François 1st Group undertook the rehabilitation of the Lacordaire wing for senior housing, extending a social vocation initiated from the Old Households Pavilion (1907–1998), designed by Albert Bouvy for 50 retired couples. This pavilion, renamed Clos-Fleuri, was part of Julien Lagache's legacy to provide shelter for "small savers". The city, which is now part of the urban landscape of Roubaix (30–35 rue de Barbieux), bears witness to the evolution of health and architectural policies from the 19th to the 21st century.

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