The Ligne Roset factory in Montagnieu, France, is getting a second life. The factory was acquired by the brand’s founder, Antoine Roset, in 1892, around four decades before it started manufacturing the furniture it is known and loved for today. The site has been transformed into a public space called Studio 1860.
The factory is now home to an educational section which allows visitors to learn about the Roset Group (which encompasses Ligne Roset as well as other brands, including Cinna). On display will be iconic Ligne Roset and Cinna furniture dating from the 1970s until now, some of which have rarely been displayed in public. You can see pieces such as the Astarac four-poster bed, designed by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac; the Elementaire armchair by Jean Nouvel; a chest of drawers by Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti; and a highchair by Philippe Starck.
Studio 1860 also contains a factory store selling cabinets and accessories, which is also open to the public; a showroom reserved for professional clients; and an upholstery and sewing training school. A wooded garden is dedicated to the display of outdoor furniture.
The renovation of the Montagnieu factory took two years and cost a total of €3,240,000. It was recognised by the General Management of Housing and Nature Planning as a standout example of sustainable and economic development: asbestos was removed from the buildings and replaced with environmentally-responsible materials, and the spaces are clad in vertical slatted metal cladding and Corten steel, which blends in with the local landscape.
The site is emblematic of the region’s industrial heritage. As mentioned, Roset acquired the six-hectare plot at the end of the 19th century, for the sum of 21,000 francs. He died the year after, however, and his wife, Marie-Victorine Divet, took over the family business, which at the time manufactured walking sticks. The brand started making furniture in 1936, becoming best-known for its 1973 Togo seating line. Today, Ligne Roset is a standard-bearer for French design excellence.
In 1974, Jean Roset moved the company's head office and workshops from Montagnieu, using the factory for storage. It was decommissioned as a factory in 2001. The Roset Group, therefore, has been established in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes for over 160 years, and the region is home to 155,000m² of industrial space over six production sites.
Studio 1860 aims to uphold the rich heritage of the Roset Group while also, for the third time, ushering the brand into a new century.
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