A Propos d'ABETECH

Too cramped in its former premises, ABETECH SA bought a classified building and has installed, on more than 3,000 m², since the end of1998, all its activities (parking, store, offices, stock, workshops). To encourage this rehabilitation, in November 1998 ABETECH received the CAIUS Prize for Walloon Region Heritage.

Founded in 1920 (the Act of Constitution was published in the Appendices of the Belgian Monitor Bulletin of 2-3-4 May 1920), the cooperative society Brewery "The Alliés" was born. On September 5th, 1921, she bought the premises of the former Brewery-Malthouse " The Sambre" in Marchienne-au-Pont. From 12.000 hectoliters in 1920, production rose to 24.500 in 1921 and grew to 200.000 in 1950. In 1935, the brewery "The Alliés" was brilliantly represented at the Brussels International Exhibition with an Art Deco pavilion, the premise of the new building that was to be built in 1938. That year it received the title of the brewery of the year in Hainaut. In 1938, it imposed itself more daringly and inaugurated on September 11th a new building complex with a floor area of 3.600m².

Started at the beginning of June 1937 under the direction of the architect René DUBOIS, this new construction was completed in 10months by the LIXON companies of Marchienne-au-Pont. The bricks of the façade were supplied by the company DAUCHOT in Gosselies, the reconstructed stones of the main façade were supplied by the company MARBRAGGLO and the frames by CHAMEBEL de Vilvoorde. Manufacturing and brewing were located in the old buildings (Now Group COLRUYT).

The new buildings, arranged around a large covered courtyard, included an office area, a shipping department, a barrel's room, a beer cellar and docks. The main façade has a development of 60 m, that of the street of Nimal is 40m long. The tower exceeds 40m in height. More than 3.000m³ of reinforced concrete and an equivalent volume of masonry have entered this realization.

The old building of the offices (500m² on the floor) consists of a basement (connected to those of the rest of the building), a ground floor, a first floor and a second-floor (connected to the main building by a footbridge) including the reception area of the old brewery.

All disserved by an elevator and two stairs. The reinforced concrete roof is established in platform, paved with "Sarreguemines" tiles. The main body (1.000m² on the floor) consists of a basement equipped with large rainwater tanks, a second floor with the large room of the old beer cellar, a third floor around the main hall and the tower. The main hall of the beer cellar is covered with a single-span reinforced concrete vault, without anchorage, reinforced on the outside by arches on the poles connected to the building’s frame. This room measures 33m by 22m and a height of 11,5m at its top.

The vault was covered on the outside with a copper layer and the inside with terracotta slab. Its top is covered with six circular openings in translucent slabs pierced by a central chimney surmounted by an air suction device of the CAUCHEMONT type. n angle of the tower which ends in front of the main body rests on a span of the vault. This tower (the old water tower) supports, on the before top floor, two water tanks used for washing the bottles. The top floor with the terrace was a trendy bar where you could admire the landscape by drinking an " Extra-Allied", a "BAM" (super pale-ale) or an "Allied Stout".

At the end of the seventies, the Brewery was acquired by INTERBREW, which centralized manufacturing in Liège and sold the building to a real estate company. The latter transferred the workshops to COLRUYT and, after more than 15 years of abandonment and vandalism, at the beginning of 1995, the main buildings (offices, beer cellar and tower) to ABETECH S.A and the rear hall to a contractor.

On May 16th, 1995, the facades and roofs of this superb Art Deco architecture were classified:
"...Whereas this industrial building, harmoniously combines brick, stone and glass. Whereas the front façade was slightly convex, the large horizontal windows and stone sills opposing the verticalism of the characteristic tower of the Art Deco current give the building real architectural qualities."

COLRUYT has razed the old workshops containing the vats and built a new store, ABETECH is renovating its part and has installed its activities in the lower floors of the main body. The basement is parking, the ground floor is transformed into offices and store. The production workshops are located on the first floor. A LOCAMAT - LOCASOL machinery and equipment rental centre are based part of the ground floor of the street. The beer cellar and the old party room situated on the office side will be converted into multi-purpose rooms. The final allocation of the ground floor and the first floor of the offices has not yet been decided.