François Coignet
| François Coignet | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
10 February 1814 Lyon, France |
| Died | 30 October 1888 (aged 74) Saint Denis, Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | French entrepreneur |
François Coignet (10 February 1814 – 30 October 1888) was a French industrialist of the nineteenth century. He was a pioneer in the development of structural prefabricated and reinforced concrete. Coignet was the first to use iron-reinforced concrete as a technique for constructing building structures.
Coignet, along with his brothers Louis (b. 1819) and Stephane (b. 1820), took over the family business of a chemical plant in Lyon in 1846. In 1847 he built some concrete houses using poured cement that was not reinforced with any iron.
In 1851 Coignet decided to settle near Paris, in the Saint-Denis neighborhood. There in 1852 he opened a second plant where he obtained a patent for cement clinker. Coignet then built a cement factory there using exposed lime walls. He followed the pisé de terre system, rammed earth method of construction, in building the plant. This was his first time he worked with this method in concrete. Later he took out a patent in England entitled "Emploi de Beton" which gave details of his construction techniques.
Coignet started experimenting with iron-reinforced concrete in 1852 and was the first builder ever to use this technique as a building material. He decided as a publicity stunt, and for promotional purposes of his cement business, to build a house made of béton armé, a type of reinforced concrete. In 1853 he built the first iron reinforced concrete structure anywhere, a four story house at 72 rue Charles Michels. This location was near his family cement plant in St. Denis, a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris. The house was designed by local architect Theodore Lachez.
New York office of
Coignet Company
72 rue Charles-Michels
in 2010
Facing east and north
Facing south and east
This house was inspected in 1855 by a committee of fourteen architects led by Henri Labrouste. In Labrouste’s report he said that all the work for the house was done entirely of cement and artificial stone. It also showed that Coignet made use of different materials of little value and mixed with lime and water to make decorative moldings and cornice that crowned the building. The railing was also a molded concrete mass. He had taken out a patent in March of that year entitled Béton Économique which showed how inexpensive aggregates could be used in concrete. He then proceeded to build several more concrete houses that still stand to this day.
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