a “vegetated and educational” playground inaugurated in Savoie

In Bourg-Saint-Maurice, in Savoie, a “new” playground has undergone major work and will be inaugurated this Saturday, June 15. The objective: imagine the “playground” of tomorrow, with almost entirely plant-based installations. A project imagined by school staff, parents but also, and above all, the children.

Water supply, vegetable garden, adventure playgrounds… The landscape of this playground is far from resembling the usual tarmac on which it was not good to fall. “I don’t know if it’s being said, but we started to ‘remove’ the 1,600 square meters of tar from the playground in the summer of 2023.”explains Laurent Vignacourt, director of the “Residents’ lives” sector at Bourg-Saint-Maurice town hall.

In this Savoie town, the 140 children at the Center school will be able to enjoy green spaces, wooden installations and even raspberry bushes. Enough to grow in an ideal setting.

This playground will be inaugurated this Saturday, June 15, a few days before the start of the school holidays. But it was at the start of the 2022 school year that the project for an “oasis courtyard” began to take shape.

“At the start, we started with a blank page.”, explains Guillaume Desrues, the mayor of Bourg-Saint-Maurice, elected at the head of a citizens’ list. “The only thing we were certain of was that we no longer wanted this playground of the past, made of a large patch of tar with two football fields, no bench and which was especially unlivable for children as soon as the sun was starting to set.

An observation coupled with a desire to renature: “We had the good idea to seek advice from the CAUE (Council of Architecture, Urban Planning and the Environment) of Savoy”explains Laurent Vignacourt again. “Thanks to these specialists, we were able to set up support for the project by students in CE2 and CM2 classes. With a central question: ‘what is your ideal courtyard?'”

The work of consulting the main occupants of the space was finalized by the construction of models. One representing the ideal courtyard of the students; the other exit from the adult workshop (teachers, after-school activity monitors and parents of students), presenting other functionalities.

“We were surprised to see, for example, that children were looking for spaces to run, hide, or plant trees, but also to rest. Some had even imagined putting deck chairs or hammocks“, explains the service manager to residents.

After a school year of work, where we had to live with five to ten developers working in the playground every day, a real oasis of freshness has blossomed in place of the old slab. A pear for thirst in anticipation of very hot days.

But the places will also be a paradise for biodiversity with the creation of nature corners, a natural play park, tree plantations, strawberries surrounded by trellises which will serve as a habitat for insects.

It’s really a new way to experience the schoolyard. Our children now have an open door to a miniature world to understand and live every day in contact with nature.

Guillaume Desrues, mayor of Bourg-Saint-Maurice.

This playground will also be an educational tool with the creation of a landscaped valley: a system combining water collectors from the school’s gutters, a vegetated circulation channel and a pool, to attract the attention of children and make them understand the importance of water resources.

In this new schoolyard, another “revolution” is underway. During consultation with children and teachers, there was a strong consensus to hold classes outside. In the new courtyard, two mini-amphitheaters were installed. Equipped with movable tables, they will be able to accommodate as many classes outdoors.

The price of all these “revolutions”: 280,000 euros. Much more expensive than the tar of the old court, but nothing to see in terms of uses. Especially since we are already thinking about opening it to residents looking for freshness in summer and on weekends. The terms remain to be defined. The subject of a future consultation, perhaps? Because as the mayor says: “The fact of having consulted the children to build their new schoolyard can only give these future citizens more faith in democracy.“