Immeuble
Monument
Immeuble, located in Lille (Nord), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Lille, Nord, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- Mérimée Reference
- PA59000148
In Lille, the Coilliot building is a unique Art Nouveau and neo-Renaissance showcase, renowned for its dazzling Longwy ceramics and exceptional stained-glass windows designed by a visionary Belle Époque merchant.
History
In the heart of Lille's historic district, the Coilliot building stands out as a rare architectural testimony to bourgeois prosperity at the turn of the 20th century. Built at the crossroads between the 19th and 20th centuries, this complex elegantly combines the commercial and residential ambitions of the Coilliot family, builders' merchants who became major players in Lille's interior design. What makes the building truly unique is the spectacular use of Longwy ceramics, a Lorraine factory renowned for its brilliant polychrome enamels. Mantels with neo-Renaissance decorations, low panelling decorated with musketeers and allegories of the seasons, tiles covering the entire circulation space: ceramics are not a mere ornament here, they are the very material of the interior architecture. This decorative bias, consistently applied from one floor to the next, makes the Coilliot building a veritable manifesto of northern bourgeois taste for the applied arts. A visit reveals a subtle superimposition of atmospheres: the relatively classical façade on the street gives no hint of the richness of the interior, which is revealed in the grand salon, with its monumental fireplace adorned with the salamander of François I, a royal symbol borrowed from the vocabulary of the Loire. The stained glass windows cast a subdued, coloured glow over the abundant decor, creating an atmosphere that is typical of the Belle Époque, a blend of controlled opulence and ornamental fantasy. Together, they form a precious testimony to the social and economic history of Lille: that of an industrious city where trade and refinement went hand in hand, where a materials merchant could become a prescriber of taste and turn his own building into a living catalogue of his products. Listed as a Historic Monument since 2009, the Coilliot building is part of the architectural memory of a northern metropolis that is all too often overlooked by heritage enthusiasts.
Architecture
The layout of the Coilliot building is typical of middle-class buildings in Lille at the end of the 19th century, with a relatively sober, classically designed street façade and a wealth of decorative features reserved for the interior spaces. The ground floor houses the vestibules of two separate staircases serving the rue Fabricy dwellings and the building at the end of the courtyard, accessible on the first floor via a covered gallery - a functional feature inherited from the architectural typologies of Lille's commercial sector. The real signature of the building lies in its interior design, based entirely on Longwy ceramics. The centrepiece is the grand salon, with its imposing neo-Renaissance mantelpiece directly inspired by the 16th-century fireplaces of the Loire region, adorned with the heraldic salamander of François I on the mantle and canopied niches that once housed sculpted female figures. The mantel on the first floor features luminous polychrome decorations, while that on the second floor is more austere and entirely monochrome. The low panelling in the living room features figurative ceramic tiles depicting musketeers in contrasting outfits and four allegorical figures representing the seasons, an iconographic programme characteristic of the eclectic taste of the Belle Époque. All the passageways - corridors, vestibules, stair landings - are clad in ceramic tiles, creating a rare and coherent ornamental continuity throughout the building. Coloured stained-glass windows complete the scheme, diffusing a subdued light over the shiny enamels and contributing to the building's unique, enveloping atmosphere. This overall treatment of the interior envelope makes the building a remarkable example of the decorative ambitions of northern bourgeois architecture at the turn of the 20th century.
Related Figures
Jean-Baptiste Coilliot — père fondateur, négociant en matériaux, installé au n°12 dès 1862Louis Coilliot — fils et héritier, maître d'ouvrage de l'ensemble immobilier à partir de 1895, promoteur des céramiques de Longwy à LilleFrançois Ier — roi de France (1494-1547), dont la salamandre héraldique orne la cheminée principale, symbole de référence culturelle de l'époque Renaissance
Map
Coordinates not available for this monument.
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Immeuble located?
Immeuble is located in Lille, Nord department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Immeuble built?
Immeuble dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Immeuble open to visitors?
Immeuble is currently closed to visitors.