Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Compagnie des mines de Lens, founded in 1852, became the largest coal company in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais basin thanks to intensive coal mining. Its administrative offices, initially installed in a post post post post near pit number 1, were expanded in 1907 before being destroyed by a shell in 1916 during World War I. The reconstruction, initiated after 1918, was entrusted to architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier, who designed modern buildings completed in 1930, incorporating Art Deco elements such as Majorelle-signed furniture and regional mosaics.

The major offices reflected the economic power of the Company, which employed up to 16,319 workers in 1913 and produced 3.8 million tons of coal annually. The site housed adorned reception rooms, such as the one decorated with a fresco of pit n°11 by the painter Tellier in 1931. After 1990, a renovation by Henri Kupzyk changed the interior provisions, removing some of the original decorations, including the tiles and mosaics of the corridors.

Partially classified as Historic Monuments in 2009, the buildings retain remarkable elements such as the entrance hall, the stairwell with its stained glass windows, and the pay pavilion. Their architecture and history illustrate Lens's golden mining age, marked by an ambitious reconstruction after the war and constant modernization until the nationalization of coalfields in 1946. The enclosed garden, with its enclosure walls, completes this emblematic set of French industrial heritage.

External links