The vertical industrial city Mozinor at 2-20 avenue Salvador-Allende and rue Didier-Daurat, in Montreuil (93), the first industrial complex to be built in height in France, is thus recognized as an urban building, a material witness to technical development. , economic, social, political and cultural architectural achievements of the twentieth century.
For Gaylord Le Checker, President of Semimo, “This label underlines the quality of the brutalist aesthetic associated with the graphic design of the facades, the preservation work carried out by the City of Montreuil, Semimo and the joint owners. The successful development of the site into a modern industrial city now hosting more than 50 companies with diversified activities contributes to the attractiveness and the cultural and economic influence of Montreuil ”..
An innovative response to industrial change and environmental issues at MOZINOR, acronym of Montreuil Zone Industrielle Nord, is the result of a municipal desire that is still very current, to preserve the environment and to create local activities and jobs in the suburbs. . It was in 1963, a period marking the beginnings of the deindustrialisation of the Paris region that this “revolutionary” and visionary choice of a vertical industrial zone, more economical in terms of floor space, was made. Mozinor is the result of a compromise between the preservation of the existing suburban and horticultural fabric and the development of local employment. With its roof terrace planted with a meadow of 2 ha and an alignment of lime trees, broom, cherry trees and many other plants, Mozinor is a pioneer of the most ecological architectural designs.
To support and make this project a reality, the municipal council voted in 1972 to create a ZAC and to create a new tool, the Société anonyme d'Économie Mixte for the planning and economic development of Montreuil, SADEMO then entrusted , in 1986, the management of the lots of which it remains the owner at Semimo-B, now Semimo, another of its semi-public companies. The idea is to facilitate access to this vertical industrial zone by building it on a motorway bypass of the A86, the A186 connected to the bd. ring road via the A3 motorway at the Porte de Bagnolet interchange, equidistant from Roissy and Orly airports ...
The design of this atypical and innovative project, which opened in 1975, was entrusted to the architects Gilbert-Paul Bertrand (in particular the town planner of Pierrette) and Claude Le Goas. Claude Le Goas (1928-2007) is the great architect and town planner of Montreuil. He is the man of the confederal headquarters of the CGT Porte de Montreuil, he is the one who designed the Conservatory of Croix-de-Chavaux, the City of Hope and so many other remarkable buildings in Montreuil. He is one of the first to implement the concept of city building on the city.
Together, these two architects designed an industrial building of 42 m² in reinforced concrete (framework of load-bearing post-beams on which resting floor slabs with visually very graphic facades pierced with bays) on a footprint of only 000 ha, serving, over 3,2 floors, flexible business premises of 4 to 500 m² and 6 m in height with frames of 000 m².
A monumental double helical ramp in prestressed concrete
These premises designed as easily convertible volumes are accessible from a sort of internal motorway, the famous helical ramp of Mozinor. This low-sloped double central ramp can be used by 30-ton heavy goods vehicles without them, whether they are going up or down, ever having to pass each other.
With this incredible innovation, the architects make Mozinor, a sort of fortress with crenellated towers, the distant descendant of the Château de Chambord with its famous helical staircase.
A player in urban economic resilience
For Patrice Bessac, president of Est Ensemble and mayor of Montreuil, “This architectural and political audacity of an industrial offer of companies not wishing to relocate, wanting to stay close to Paris, is more topical than ever. Thanks to its design qualities: space saving, greening of terraces but also modularity of volumes, functional integration of common services, this vertical industrial zone offers exceptional adaptability to changes in the economic world as well as in its urban environment. A real tool for urban resilience in Montreuil, Mozinor is preparing to soon welcome the T1 tramway at its feet, the work of which is underway, and to take its full place in a more urban environment. "
Mozinor today consists of 50 companies and 500 employees, supporting an original economic community through the diversity of its diversified activities: industrial activities, art and design, events, fooding, leisure and culture, printing professions. These companies also form a community through the sharing of values and ambitions, in terms of social innovation, environmental impact and professional excellence.Three of them have been distinguished by the award of the Living Heritage Company Label (EPV) which makes it possible to reward French companies with rare, renowned or ancestral know-how in the field of crafts and industry.
Mozinor is also the example that led Montreuil to imagine in the mid-80s, the creation of Advanced Activity Centers, these famous CAPs which revive closed factories by transforming them under the action of SEMIMO-B , now SEMIMO, in industrial hotels. About forty CAPs will see the light of day, ensuring the reconquest of brownfields with the establishment of 450 companies, SMEs and SMIs and the maintenance or establishment of 4 local jobs.