Collège Robert Badinter: A School to Reconnect a City

Collège Robert Badinter in Cambrai is the first school in northern France built with a timber load-bearing structure. But the project also reinterprets the educational building as community infrastructure, able to reunite fragmented urban areas and establish new links between the city, community, and the surrounding landscape.

Designed by Coldefy in collaboration with Relief Architecture, the 650-student middle school occupies a former rail yard, a stratified, complex site next to Cambrai’s 19th century station and a short distance from the historic center. The choice of this site aligns with a wider urban regeneration strategy to turn a marginal area into a hub for public transport and community life. Occupying a site once defined by rail lines and catiches (historic underground gypsum quarries), the school acts as a catalyst for regeneration.

Collège Robert Badinter: a new landmark for Cambrai

Conceived as a point of reference for the community, the school comprises a large cantilevered main volume that faces the 1858 station and reinterprets its industrial character in a contemporary architectural language. A staggered double-gabled roof recalls historic station halls, while the timber structure signals the project’s focus on sustainability. The entrance, a large timber portico facing the city, forms a porous transition between public space and the school, easing students and visitors into a sheltered environment while keeping the building tied to its urban setting.

This transition is strengthened by the presence of an established tree, accommodated in an opening in the portico roof. This simple yet symbolic detail anchors the architecture in the memory of the site while underscoring its ecological and temporal continuity. The two-story teaching block aligns with a row of established trees, reinforcing the design of the public space and defining a new urban frontage. Alongside it sits a lower, set-back volume that houses the cafeteria and staff rooms. Its planted surroundings reduce its perceived scale.

A large internal courtyard anchors the plan. Accommodating play areas, sports fields, and a running track, it acts as the nerve center of school life. Inside, a full-height, top-lit central volume lined with classrooms, walkways, and balconies forms the building’s core. It functions as a circulation and social space, designed to support both informal gathering and collaborative learning. The materials – exposed timber and warm finishes – and soft natural light create a calm setting for study and teaching.

Sustainability as a key principle

A key element of the project is the Knowledge and Culture Center. Accessible directly from the street and operating inside and outside school hours, this 80-seat space extends the school’s presence into the city, reinforcing its role as a community resource. The design team approached the restoration of the adjacent 1906 rail shed in the same way, converting it into a 934 m2 multipurpose gym. The intervention retained the historic brick shell and metal trusses, while introducing bright, flexible, and contemporary OSB-lined interiors.

From the environmental standpoint, Collège Robert Badinter sets an ambitious benchmark. Certified as a Low Carbon Building and “Excellent” under the HQE standard, the building is the product of an integrated bioclimatic approach that includes a biomass boiler fueled by locally sourced pellets, photovoltaic panels, rainwater harvesting and reuse, and extensive solar shading. Evidenced by the project’s timber structure and modular construction, sustainability is an intrinsic value.

As Isabel Van Haute, founding partner of Coldefy, notes, the project’s value lies in the dialogue it establishes between industrial memory and future vision. Principal Sandrine Beauvois adds that the architecture itself is an educational tool that supports new educational models and fosters autonomy, openness, and awareness.

>>> Discover Colegio Montesión, designed by GRAS Reynés in Palma de Mallorca