This necessarily partial and subjective tour focuses on 10 projects that are emblematic of the transformation of our university campus sites: the installation of photovoltaic systems and the creation of an administrative platform in the A32 building on the Peixotto campus, the landscaping of the Bordes campus, the SMART building on the Rocquencourt campus, the new university library (BUDL) on the Montesquieu campus in Pessac, the new campus life centre and the Bordeaux Biologie Santé (BBS) building on the Carreire campus, the refurbishment and extension of university premises on the Périgueux campus, and the opening of the Station Marne student life hub on the Victoire campus.

To guide us, we turn to one of the key players in the metamorphosis of university spaces, Annie Cohen, Head of the Property and environment division at the University of Bordeaux.

    

"Ten years, that's the time it took to transform the Bordeaux campuses"

You closely followed the metamorphosis of the Bordeaux campuses over the last ten years. Can you tell us about the context and ambitions of this project?

Annie Cohen: It all started in 2008 with Opération Campus, a call for projects launched by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. The aim was clear: to make French universities more attractive on the European stage, while at the same time responding to the urgent need for new buildings. The ambitious Bordeaux project, led by the University of Bordeaux in partnership with Bordeaux Montaigne University, Bordeaux INP, Sciences Po Bordeaux and many other local and regional partners, was one of the first six sites to be selected. Estimated to cost 450 million euros, Opération Campus Bordeaux was designed to refurbish or rebuild 180,000 m² of university buildings and redevelop public outdoor spaces, with the aim of opening them up to the city. Bringing together communities working in the same scientific and educational fields, improving the comfort of students, staff and lecturers thanks to modern and appropriate infrastructures, while reducing the environmental footprint of the building stock and encouraging soft mobility were at the heart of this vast project.

Peixotto campus

What were the key moments in this transformation?

A. C.: We worked in three successive major phases. Work began in 2013 on the science and technology sector of the university estate, then continued on the health sector on the Carreire campus and finally on the Montaigne-Montesquieu sector in Pessac and the Victoire sector in Bordeaux Centre. Since then, the work has never stopped! It has taken 10 years to transform the Bordeaux campuses. Buildings such as the Carreire and Marne student life hubs, and the H and SMART teaching and research buildings, have seen the light of day. Existing buildings, such as the university law and literature library in Pessac, have been transformed and public spaces completely redeveloped, such as the Cours Leyteire on the Victoire site and the cycle paths that cross the Talence, Pessac and Carreire campuses.

Energy has also been a key priority. Thanks to the support of the France Relance plan launched by the French government in 2021, a budget of 51 million euros has been added to the Opération campus programme to finance 31 other projects, mainly involving the energy renovation of buildings and the deployment of photovoltaic installations.

What are the new challenges facing the University of Bordeaux campus sites today?

A. C.: Opération campus only covered one third of the building stock. In the future, we intend to continue this transformation by focusing more broadly than 10 years ago on the challenges posed by environmental and societal transitions, with the support of the Institute for Transitions, which was created in January 2023.

For example, one of the most emblematic and structuring projects for the coming years will be the creation of a public interest consortium bringing together our partners in higher education and research, as well as the CROUS, with the objective of developing, operating and optimising energy infrastructures on the university estate. The consortium's first task will be to create and operate a university heating network to produce and distribute energy on campus that is as carbon-free as possible.

Future transformations will also have to take into account the challenges of reducing energy consumption and adapting our infrastructure to new working habits in the wake of the health crisis. For a number of years now, we have been working on and experimenting with innovative solutions that consume less square metreage, favouring spaces with modular architecture capable of offering a greater diversity of uses.

Our other major ambition for the coming years will be to breathe more life into our campuses. Having become the owner of a particularly rich and attractive portfolio of land and buildings during this period, the university wishes to continue the transformation of its campuses by creating a sustainable city. The aim is to turn these campuses into "pieces of the city" and "territories of urban innovation".

Montesquieu campus

The H building

How do you envisage the Bordeaux campuses in ten years?

A. C.: In 10 years, we have succeeded in broadening the scope of our activities to bring our campuses up to scratch. In 10 years' time, these same campuses will have yet another face. I imagine them as vibrant places to live, respectful of the environment, offering every member of staff and every student the means to flourish both academically and personally. Campuses that are constantly innovating to adapt to the societal challenges of tomorrow.

Carreire campus

Victoire campus

Périgord campus