Bâtiment des Forces motrices|Salle Théodore Turrettini|Promenade des Lavandières|Seujet dam|Geneva|
Forces Motrices factory in Geneva, early 1900s - salle intérieure du bâtiment des Forces Motrices (Genève) début des années 1900
The Building of Motive Forces (BFM) is a former disused hydraulic factory located in Geneva (Switzerland) and subsequently converted into a performance hall under the name of Salle Théodore Turrettini. The old building was known as the Coulouvrenière Hydraulic Factory.
In 1880, the hydraulic machine located at the Pont de la Machine, despite its successive expansions, was no longer sufficient to meet the city's demand for water. The Grand Council therefore granted the city of Geneva the concession for the driving forces of the Rhône on December 30, 1882. The latter undertook to build a new hydraulic plant which would supply the city with drinking water and energy produced by the water technology. water under pressure. At the same time, it takes charge of the work necessary for the regulation of Lake Geneva, in particular through the construction of a curtain dam.
As the project in question provides for the construction of the factory on the territory of the commune of Plainpalais, which was then experiencing financial difficulties, the Administrative Council of Geneva began negotiations with the Council of State so that part of the district of La Jonction, located in the commune of Plainpalais, is annexed to it. Faced with his refusal, it was decided that the building would finally be built on the Rhône, the bed of which had been granted to the city of Geneva in 1882. From then on, the engineer and administrative advisor Théodore Turrettini developed the construction project. Close to the district and the Coulouvrenière bridge (1857), the factory will take the same name.
Work began in November 1883 to take advantage of a period when the waters were low. The arms of the Rhône are successively dried up to allow the construction of the building, the hydraulic system and the curtain dam of the Pont de la Machine. The first five groups of turbines were inaugurated in May 1886. In 1892, the large wing of the building was completed and 18 groups of pumps and turbines were then in operation.
The interior of the Beaux-Arts style building is made up of immense spaces that no wall intersects while the roof is supported by a metal frame. The facades are made of concrete and stone and only the one facing the lake is decorated with statues representing Neptune, Ceres and Mercury. Furthermore, to avoid excess pressure, a relief valve was installed near the large wing, creating the first water jet in Geneva.
In Geneva, the first hydroelectric plant was built under the direction of Théodore Turrettini, further downstream on the Rhône, near the village of Chèvres; the Chèvres hydroelectric plant provided electricity from 1896 to 1943, the year the Verbois dam and its hydroelectric plant came into operation. It was demolished in 1947.
The building was abandoned in 1992 when it was replaced by the Arquebuse pumping station. Classified as a historic monument in 1988, then Swiss cultural property of national importance, several avenues were then explored to find a new use for it. After several contacts with the department responsible for the building and the generosity of a Geneva patron, it was decided to build a new 1,000-seat performance hall adapted to the needs of the Grand Théâtre. This room must host Grand Théâtre productions for one year and then be used for events or shows. Only two pumps are kept in the small wing.
According to the plans of the architect Bernard Picenni, a reception area is created in the small wing and the performance hall itself in the large wing. The performance hall, inaugurated in September 1997, is entirely built of wood and has 801 seats on the floor and 144 on the balcony. The scenographic studies were entrusted to dUCKS scéno, and the acoustic studies were carried out by Puisz.
In December 1997, a pedestrian bridge was attached to the north and west facades of the building and made it possible to connect the Promenade des Lavandières to the esplanade of the Seujet dam and to the Place des Volontaires where the L'Usine cultural center is located. It is supported on the piers of the old maintenance walkway at the bottom of the building's windows.
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