Created in 1910 by two brothers from a family of bricklayers, RAIRIES MONTRIEUX, manufacturer of terracotta building materials, began the manufacture of bricks according to the traditional method of the time: extracting clay by force of arms, Hand mold the bricks and then bake them in a wood-burning oven. This process has made the reputation of RAIRIES MONTRIEUX which retains its ancestral know-how despite the industrialization of the process. RAIRIES MONTRIEUX today produces bricks, tiles and veneers in natural or enamelled terracotta for floors, interior walls, exterior facades and garden landscaping
The surrounding region of Rairies, located at the border of Maine-et-Loire (49) and Sarthe (72), has a so-called red clay which has made its reputation for the transformation of clay into terracotta. From the 17th to the 18th century, the reputation of the village was well established, but it was from 1864 that recognition of the know-how of the villagers of Les Rairies was established. Apart from clay, a brickworks needs two essential elements: a well, an oven. The production hall and the barn are optional constructions. The barn (or dryer) is a wooden structure with four low sides covered with tiles, the shape and arrangement of which ensure good air circulation without letting the rain in. To date, Rairies Montrieux operates this barn as an exhibition site.
Once the clay has been stretched, after three weeks of drying, the materials (bricks, tiles, wafers, etc.) are methodically arranged in the furnace that gives them this specific tint. After preheating the oven, it takes about 36 hours without interruption (the oven temperature varies between 800°C and 1200°C depending on the weather). A week elapses between the beginning of the oven filling and the end of the cooking cycle. Although the technique of making terracotta products remains unchanged, some processes have been industrialized since 1910 (when Ernest and Victor Montrieux created RAIRIES MONTRIEUX); a period when the demand for terracotta products became stronger. Man was then replaced by machines and the generalization of electricity supplemented the industrialization of production. Despite this, the manufacturing process has not fundamentally changed. Cooking is always done partly in the wood oven, nothing that can replace human intervention to perfectly control all the parameters.
The R&D laboratory and the design office of RAIRIES MONTRIEUX are able to respond to many problems by providing technical solutions inherent to each project. Creating new trends, RAIRIES MONTRIEUX can rely on a research laboratory where the skills of employees perform on a daily basis to guarantee impeccable quality achievements. This expertise allows among other things the creation of new colors and a customized response in colors on the basis of RAL shades. RAIRIES MONTRIEUX has thus positioned itself as one of the major players in color enamelling, for products of character.
In 2006, RAIRIES MONTRIEUX was awarded the label “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant”. A true mark of recognition granted by the State, this label created in 2005 offers it a place of choice in the field of French companies with artisanal and industrial know-how of excellence. In 2020, RAIRIES MONTRIEUX also received the “Produit en Anjou” label, which aims to showcase and promote the many know-how of Maine-et-Loire. In a context of globalization of trade, this label is a sign of recognition intended to promote the products and services developed in Maine-et-Loire, combining energy and transparency. Obtaining this territorial mark is based on two cumulative criteria: more than 50% of the added value of the product must be acquired in the territory of Maine-et-Loire and the constituent elements of the product must be derived or elaborated in the department.