La Lampisterie

History and initial purpose

A utilitarian architecture conceived in service of the workers

Built in the 1860s, La Lampisterie originally housed the lamp service and the potash storage room.

Reconfigured in the 1890s, it was converted into a workshop dedicated to stripping locomotive boiler tubes.

After 1950, its function shifted once again: the eastern section of the building was fitted out as changing rooms and equipped with two shower facilities, marking a further stage in the daily life of the workers.

Building renovation

The Polonceau truss, a rare testament to industrial ingenuity

In 2024, La Lampisterie underwent a major rehabilitation. The aim was not to reimagine the site, but to preserve its original architecture as fully as possible.

Rectangular in plan, the building features, on its east and west elevations, a dressed-stone base topped by a row of five stone-framed tripartite openings. The corner quoins likewise underscore the careful emphasis on the material.

La Lampisterie is spanned by a Polonceau truss roof structure, developed in 1837 by the engineer Camille Polonceau. This system combines timber, cast iron, and wrought iron to optimize the distribution of forces, enabling wide spans with an economical use of materials.

Today, La Lampisterie is the only building in the Parc des Ateliers where this composite structural system can still be observed; the others were lost in the 1985 fires.