A condensed history

For centuries, the waters that flow down from the mountains have been exploited for their motive power and in craft and industrial manufacturing processes.

It was in 1868 that the first mechanical paper machine was installed in the "usine du Pont" (later called the "papeterie Sotralose").

In 1968, the mill suffered the same fate as the rest of the industry: the demise of the valley's paper industry.

In the 1980s, the Vaucluse Departmental Council acquired the mill and encouraged the establishment of an "arts and crafts" business. The Popes' crystal glassworks ".

A few years later, the business came to a halt and the building fell into disrepair.

In 2020, the owners decided to launch the works and we were off on a 3-year adventure.

The project

The idea was that this third 'industrial' activity should be architecturally distinctive, while preserving the architectural heritage of the two previous activities.

The main building has therefore been finished in traditional masonry (as it was then) and the block that was added in the 1980s has been rebuilt and clad in corten steel cladding to give it a modern, up-to-date feel.

The crushing vats are the element that we wanted to preserve at all costs by highlighting them. So we glazed the vats and brushed the mixer blades to turn them into a miniature car showroom.

"I'd like to thank all the craftsmen who took part in this project, without them nothing would have been possible, and I'd like to thank the owners for entrusting it to me."