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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Girodon boarding school factory was built between 1873 and 1875 in Saint-Simeon-de-Bressieux (Isère) by the Girodon manufacturers as part of the relocation of the Lyon silks to Lower Dauphiné after 1825. Acquired in 1870 with the mill Desplagnes, it was authorized by prefectoral decree in 1872. The site combined a weaving plant and a boarding school for workers, built of peas, local material, to house them all week. The metal frame of the Polonceau type and the cooked brick frames illustrate the industrial architecture of the period.

At its peak in 1885, the factory employed 973 people, including 800 workers, before a gradual decline (160 employees in 1929) and its closure in 1934. Repurchased in 1942 by Peugeot, then by Sachs and Huret in 1987, the site was preserved for its use of raw land and its spatial organization (plan in L, inner courtyard with basin). Ranked a historic monument in 1990, there remains a rare example of an integrated working-class city, although closed to the public.

The lives of workers, often from remote areas, were paced by strict conditions: compulsory accommodation on site, collective showers in the courtyard, and work under the roof. This model reflected the migration of women from the rhônalpine textile industry, where manufacturers like Girodon played a key role in the local economy. Today, the site, a private property, is only visited exceptionally, as during a guided opening in July 2024.

Architecturally, the factory is distinguished by its metal-framed roof, its brick and raw earth facades, and its horizontal and vertical organization. The boarding school, with its central vanguard and triangular pediment, symbolized the social hierarchy (separate housing for management). Historical sources, such as Raymond Moyroux's or Abel Chatelain's work, point to its importance in the study of residential factories and female labour in the 19th century.

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