Oh, patents! The Menier (Saulnier) chocolate factory watermill

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Jules Saulnier’s remodel of the old Menier watermill factory was spectacular. Saulnier built an iron supporting frame for the factory, where it was no longer feasible to use a wood weight-bearing frame that could withstand all the vibrations of the heavy cacao production machinery, in use on all three floors of the factory. 

Saulnier also designed the iron frame as esthetically visible on the outside of the building. The iron joists were crossed in a geometric diamond pattern, accented with brick-mosaic cladding. The brick cladding displayed a diamond geometric pattern, using light colored bricks in the background, blue bricks at the intersection of the joists, and darker bricks for the mosaic diamonds. 

Three different sorts of ceramic inlays were also added to the brick cladding. The ceramic inlays depict “M” for Menier, the cocoa tree and a geometric pattern. Saulnier explicitly cited oriental architecture as the source of inspiration for the decorative façade work, in his effort to bring beauty to an otherwise gray and bleak industrial landscape.





The architectural success of the renovation, in turn, amplified Menier chocolate sales, giving the company an unanticipated source of publicity.  

Saulnier also transformed the inside of the watermill into a then state-of-the-art facility for cacao and chocolate production, streamlining  (with no pun intended) all aspects of production on the three floors of the building, where all the machinery was located for such processes as roasting, grinding, conching and cooling. 

To expand the watermill Saulnier added a fourth stone pile foundation. To power all the new machinery, he replaced the waterwheels with three modern turbines. 

In 1992, the old Menier (Saulnier-remodeled) watermill chocolate factory was listed as the first industrial monument of historical significance in France.

References 

Moulin de la chocolaterie Menier
https://www.citedelarchitecture.fr/sites/default/files/documents/2017-09/fo_chocolateriemenier_def.pdf