In Pian-Médoc, a college has grown on the edge of the Bordeaux metropolis, located in the middle of the pines. If everything is not yet complete for this start of the school year, this magnificent structure was unveiled without difficulty to its first 480 students this Thursday.
“Eventually, the college, which for the moment only welcomes students from 6th to 4th grade, will be able to receive up to 800 students, explains the principal Gaëlle Gueguen. The objective is to be the most inclusive school possible, soon with a section specializing in welcoming students with disabilities, and a space for students newly arrived in France. We also offer mixed toilets, the only discrimination will be that of age, with the little ones on one side, and the older ones on the other. »
This college also wants to be a “nature” establishment. » « The architect [BMP Architectes/Eric Wirth] wanted to integrate this establishment into its environment by making it cohabit with the trees”, continues Gaëlle Gueguen. “And if we are surrounded by forest, we do not feel in a situation of danger, she specifies because of the fires of the summer in the department, which can cause concern. The security commission has given its authorization to operate, the site is very well protected. »
The recycled wood
So that the students can take full advantage of this environment, a “nature” room, a sort of open-air amphitheater, has been designed. “We can write on the sides and have this magnificent landscape in front of us, shows the principal. This room can be used for certain presentations, so that the student is in good conditions to speak in public. I hope to breathe here an educational project on the empowerment of students and their gain in autonomy. They are children, but will quickly become young adults. Our role is also to equip them for their future life, this involves knowing how to speak in public, negotiating, listening… These are skills as important as academic skills. »
The environmental aspect also involves actions in terms of energy saving. Le Pian secondary school is equipped with a biomass boiler room for the production of heating and hot water, and 200 m2 of photovoltaic panels on the roof will supply part of the energy for the building. A 36 m3 tank will be used to store rainwater for sanitary water. Finally, 80% of the wood present on the site was used for the cladding, and maritime pine was used for the furniture. All this enabled the establishment to be the winner of the European innovation project Basajaunwhich values wood projects.
“High level of requirements in terms of equipment and public service”
The opening of this establishment, in this northwest arc of the Bordeaux conurbation, was particularly awaited, because it is one of the most tense sectors, recognizes the president of the department. The Gironde, which welcomes 20,000 additional inhabitants each year, half of them in the Bordeaux metropolis, must make up for a deficit in terms of public facilities, and in particular colleges, as quickly as possible. “That’s why we have added another in Taillan-Médoc to the list of colleges to be created,” emphasizes Jean-Luc Gleyze, president (PS) of the department.
The Gironde launched a college plan in 2017, which provided for the construction of twelve new establishments and ten rehabilitations by 2024. A plan which has since been revised upwards, and increased to fourteen new colleges. Five of them are inaugurated for the start of the 2022 school year, and another completely renovated one is also opening. “It is a form of culmination for this plan that is emerging,” rejoices the elected official.
The entire college plan “will allow us to accommodate 10,000 additional college students until 2025”, continues Jean-Luc Gleyze, who recognizes that “this demographic growth poses a high level of requirement in terms of equipment and service audience “.