Libourne: redevelopment of school grounds
Permeable soil for more nature
April 2024
Cerema has produced a series of fact sheets entitled ‘Resilience and school grounds’, which present projects to redevelop school grounds. Adapting to each context, these projects share a concern for incorporating more nature, diversifying uses and improving living conditions, particularly in summer, to take account of ongoing climate change.
Here we have the project developed in Libourne for the redevelopment of the courtyard of the Sud primary schools, with the desilting of part of the 2100 m² courtyard and the implementation of nature-based solutions.
In 2021, this project won the ‘Participatory Approach’ award from the French Landscape Federation. The Mission Interministérielle pour la Qualité des Constructions Publiques (Interministerial Mission for the Quality of Public Construction) would like to cite this schoolyard renovation in its future national guide.
A pilot project for landscaping that promotes biodiversity
Initial situation: A large ‘classic’ waterproofed school playground in the suburbs
Libourne has 14 schools. The Sud primary schools is located in a suburban area and has 9 classes for 169 pupils. The buildings date from 1984. The playground is traditionally used for football, hopscotch and table tennis, making it a noisy place. Its surface is almost completely sealed, with rainwater managed via the stormwater drainage system. Stagnant water has been observed following heavy storms at the lowest point of the courtyard. In very hot weather, the site is very uncomfortable. There are seven trees in the courtyard, and their stems are asphyxiated, so they are not conducive to water infiltration. In an area at the back of the buildings, which is not accessible to children without the help of the after-school care staff, a vegetable garden has been laid out, as well as a very small flowered area with a chicken run.
Landscape, living environment, heat, rainwater and biodiversity
Parcel infiltration is an approach deployed by the city throughout its territory. In this case, it wanted to create a pilot project for landscaping coupled with the desire to provide shade for the courtyard. The black asphalt surface reaches temperatures of up to 65°C in the sun. The project aims to promote sustainable rainwater management by eliminating the need for run-off water to enter the combined sewer system and promoting sustainable management techniques, while addressing the problem of stagnation in the event of heavy rainfall.
A cross-disciplinary project designed by a project manager from the outset
No more asphalt
For a number of years now, the town has been removing waterproofing from its public spaces. As the school grounds are largely covered in asphalt, the town’s education and environment departments have been looking at ways of changing the way they are laid out. The project was prompted by a request to the mayor from extra-curricular activities leaders for the introduction of natural areas planted with trees. The biodiversity dimension was subsequently highlighted during the consultation process to select the project manager, with the shared desire to accommodate flora and fauna and to weave a link with an educational project.
Project management from needs definition to design
The town has entrusted the project design and upstream support to an external project management team. CLAP (Creative Landscape Process), a new landscape architect based in the town, was commissioned for this purpose. The environment department drew up a set of specifications outlining the objectives and wishes for the project, which the project management team transcribed into the tender documents. The company selected was able to grasp the purpose of the project very well. A technical committee brought together the green spaces department and the project team.
Essential consultation carried out over a short period of time
Support from the project management team for a concerted design of the project
The town also wanted to involve the project management team in the consultation process, listening to and supporting the teaching and after-school care teams. It was considered essential to work on the project’s ambitions with the main stakeholders in order to secure their commitment from the design stage onwards. The project had to be limited to one year and based on the school calendar, which left little time for consultation. A model of the school was built by the project team. Mobile, dismantlable and easy to handle, it facilitated the understanding and collective construction of the project with teachers, after-school care staff, technicians and elected representatives. In particular, the teachers were able to change the location of future planting as they wished. This support enabled a very concrete exchange of desires and needs. The green space maintenance staff, who are responsible for ensuring the sustainability of the planting, were also involved. They contributed their experience and knowledge of the plants best suited to each context. However, due to a lack of time, the pupils were not involved in the consultation process, but for the other schools, they will be involved from the upstream phase of the development projects.
Trees as a common thread
The project team, convinced that the project would find its expression through the planting of trees, made this its common thread, an idea that spoke to both the elected representatives and the technical services. As a driving force and a source of ideas, they suggested going beyond the installation of a simple pergola and the planting of a dozen trees to provide shade and enhance the landscape, and put forward the idea of planting a ‘mini forest’. The aim was also to create new spaces that would help to create a different atmosphere, soothe the pupils and enrich the project with its share of biodiversity. Everyone contributed to the diagnosis of the playground, pointing out the problem of flooding in heavy rain as well as the lack of shade. The project gradually took shape: removing the asphalt and planting trees. The project management team went beyond its role as space designer by proposing educational activities based on the groves: a calendar shows the possible contributions during the year, the autumn discolouration, the formation of humus, bird watching, and so on.
A school playground with different areas that are well suited to the children’s needs
Positive feedback for all
The feedback from the children is very positive, and they are very happy with their new playground, with its different areas. It’s their place, and they respect it, sweeping up the wood shavings and leaves that end up in the driveway. The extra-curricular activities and teaching teams have noticed that the children are shouting less; they have noticed that they are calming down, playing in different ways (particularly with nature), and that there is a greater mix of children with a more equitable distribution of space. The town’s departments (education, environment) were not expecting such changes. They are pleasantly surprised to see that the reorganisation of the playground has had a real impact on the children. This positive feedback is encouraging the town to continue the work in the other schools. At first, parents were a little concerned about the dirt, which could soil clothes and shoes, and the stones, which could be used as projectiles and injure children. Today, parents appreciate the new layout.
Focus on the use of some areas and facilities
The fresco
The purpose of the fresco was to ‘brighten up’ the playground and reduce the heat from the ground. Even though we didn’t use any equipment to measure the temperature of the ground, the feeling was very real: the painted part of the ground was cooler to the touch. However, the children don’t play much because the games are perhaps too complex.
Ganivelles
Used to protect the planting pits for the first year, while the substrate matured, they were covered with felt to protect the children, then removed in January 2022.
The reading room
The children love spending time here. Reading, resting, chatting… it has a wide variety of uses.
The flower beds
Work has been carried out with the extra-curricular activity leader to inform children and raise their awareness of the need to respect these areas. The shredded branches from the tree pruning carried out during All Saints’ Day are used for the flowerbeds.
Tree strips
They help to recharge the water table, act as filters along the classrooms, provide shade in summer and let in light in winter.
KEYS TO SUCCESS: the project owner’s point of view
The creation of new green spaces requires maintenance, which can be costly in operational terms. This parameter was taken into account in the design of the project. The redevelopment of the school does not mean more work, but a different kind of work. The trees have to be pruned and the leaves swept up.
The support provided by a project manager who was able to put forward proposals to the various players involved in creating a joint project was essential. And this was one of the keys to the project’s success: the uses were adapted to everyone’s needs.
A good understanding of the issues by the company in charge of the works. They understood and sometimes anticipated the expectations of the client. For example, it got involved by offering to provide the children with the materials they needed to make the nesting boxes and feeders.
The major role played by the after-school team throughout the project. They made a major contribution at several stages of the project: upstream, by suggesting that nature be introduced into the school grounds; during the project, by involving the pupils in making the nesting boxes and information panels; and after the work was completed, by carrying out educational activities (education, promotion of biodiversity).