Saint-Gobain S. A. - Courbevoie (Hauts-de-Seine), France - Publicly Held Corporation Headquarters on Waymarking.com

[FR] Fondée en 1665 par Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) sous le nom de Manufacture royale des glaces, l'entreprise est présente dans soixante-huit pays et emploie en 2019 près de 171 000 personnes.

La Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs de Saint-Gobain est créée en 1665 sous le règne de Louis XIV par son ministre des finances Jean-Baptiste Colbert, afin de donner à la France une dépendance moindre aux productions de verre vénitiennes.

Entre 1678 et 1684, la compagnie participe à la construction de la galerie des Glaces du château de Versailles. En 1693, elle s'établit en Picardie à Saint-Gobain (aujourd'hui dans le département de l'Aisne), sur le site de l'ancien château médiéval. Cette implantation est motivée par le besoin de conserver le secret industriel, mais plus encore par les besoins en bois énergie. En effet, dans les années 1770, la glacerie est l'établissement industriel qui consomme le plus de bois en France (près de 30 000 stères par an). Ces besoins considérables conduisent à un véritable façonnement des paysages forestiers, gérés presque exclusivement pour répondre à la demande industrielle.

En 1913, c'est, avec Schneider, l'une des deux entreprises industrielles figurant au palmarès des vingt premières capitalisations françaises.

Quelques exemples de produits37 :

Vitrage automobile, via sa filiale Saint-Gobain Sekurit (feuilleté et trempé) ;

Vitrage bâtiment, via sa filiale Saint-Gobain Glass ;

Isolation, notamment via sa filiale Isover (laine de verre et de roche, laine à souffler) ;

Plâtre et plaques de plâtre, via sa filiale Placoplatre en France, Gyproc en Angleterre et Scandinavie, Rigips en Allemagne ;

Laine et mousse de cultures pour le jardinage, via sa filiale Cultilène ;

Distribution de matériaux, via ses filiales Point.P, La Plateforme du Bâtiment, CEDEO en France, Jewson (en) en Angleterre, Dahl en Scandinavie... ;

Produits pour la construction, dont les canalisations via la société Saint-Gobain PAM (canalisations en fonte ductile), les mortiers industriels et la chimie du bâtiment avec Weber (mortiers, colles à carrelage et enduits de façade) ;

Les matériaux de toiture, couverture au travers de l'entreprise Asturienne de Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France depuis 1999 ;

Distribution de matériels du secteur sanitaire, du génie climatique et de la plomberie pour les professionnels du bâtiment au travers de l'entreprise Cedeo de Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France ;

Les solutions de haute performance : céramiques (SEPR), plastiques (SGPPL), cristaux (Saint Gobain Quartz), abrasifs (société Norton Abrasives aux États-Unis), textiles techniques à base de fibre de verre (Saint-Gobain Adfors).

Au titre des réalisations de l'entreprise, on peut notamment citer la pyramide du Louvre, l’aménagement du lycée Henri-IV ou le Grand Canyon Skywalk (une attraction touristique au-dessus du Colorado, plate-forme en verre à l'aplomb du Grand Canyon).

[EN] Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of construction, high-performance, and other materials.

Since the middle of the 17th century, luxury products such as silk textiles, lace and mirrors were in high demand. In the 1660s, mirrors had become very popular among the upper classes of society: Italian cabinets, châteaux and ornate side tables and pier-tables were decorated with this expensive and luxurious product. At the time, however, the French were not known for mirror technology; instead, the Republic of Venice was known as the world leader in glass manufacturing, controlling a technical and commercial monopoly of the glass and mirror business. French minister of finance Olivier Bluche wanted France to become completely self-sufficient in meeting domestic demand for luxury products, thereby strengthening the national economy.

Colbert established by letters patent the public enterprise Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs in October 1665. The company was created for a period of twenty years and would be financed in part by the State. The beneficiary and first director was the French financier Nicolas du Noyer, receiver of taxes of Orléans, who was granted a monopoly of making glass and mirror-glass for a period of twenty years. The company had the informal name Compagnie du Noyer.

To compete with the Italian mirror industry, Colbert commissioned several Venetian glassworkers he had enticed to Paris to work for the company. The first unblemished mirrors were produced in 1666. Soon the mirrors created in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, under the French company, began to rival those of Venice. The French company was capable of producing mirrors that were 40 to 45 inches long (1.0 to 1.1 m), which at the time was considered impressive. Competition between France and the Venetians became so fierce that Venice considered it a crime for any glass artisan to leave and practice their trade elsewhere, especially in foreign territory.

Though the Compagnie du Noyer was reduced at times to importing Venetian glass and finishing it in France, by September 1672 the royal French manufacturer was on a sufficiently sound footing for the importation of glass to be forbidden to any of Louis' subjects, under any conditions. In 1678, the company produced the glass for the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.

Some of the more famous buildings that Saint-Gobain contributed to were the Crystal Palace in London, le Jardin des Plantes, les Grand et Petit Palais and les Halles in Paris, and Milan railway station.

The company developed three new glassmaking techniques and processes; first, a dipping technique used to coat car windows, which prevented glass from shattering in the event of an accident. As a result of that technique, 10% of Saint-Gobain's 1920 sales came from the car industry, and 28% in 1930. Second, a few years later, another technique was developed that allowed glass to be shaped and bent.

Address: Tour Saint-Gobain 12 place de l’Iris Courbevoie, France 92096 Stock Ticker Symbol: SGO Stock Market: Euronext

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