In September 2025, the students of Trèbes (Aude) will leave their prefabricated modules for the Aiguille school group, construction of which (cost: €7.6 million excluding tax) began in June. After the floods of October 2018, the kindergarten was demolished while the primary school, less exposed to risk, was transformed into a social center. “The prospect of seeing this 100-year flood become a 30-year or even 20-year flood due to climate change has pushed the municipality to make the land unbuildable,” explains Florian Maugard, general director of municipal services. The plots closest to the Aude will be used to develop a flood expansion zone and a park. » Concerning school equipment, two options were available: either move it to the north in a non-flooding area but away from homes, or rebuild it to the south, on the initially flooded site, to maintain neighborhood life. This last solution was chosen after lengthy discussions with the Aude departmental management of territories and seas, which was involved in the choice of project management as well as the design.
Construction on stilts. To ensure the safety of users and the hydraulic transparency of the building, the CV Architecture agency designed a construction on stilts. “The basement serves as a large courtyard, the level of the school floors being 2.60 m above the level of the natural terrain. The base is treated with a plant strip which ensures water permeability of 80%,” indicates architect Alain Cathala.
The project contributes to the resilience of a territory which has learned the lessons of the past disaster. Anxious to meet the demand for housing and services while limiting the artificialization of land, the City of Trèbes has in fact initiated a strategy to revalorize the old center. “As in many small towns, it has become degraded and impoverished. This is why we are going to rehabilitate the habitat after having reworked the public spaces,” announces Florian Maugard. With the support of the public land establishment of Occitanie, a pre-operational study of Opah-RU was initiated, resulting from a first feasibility study carried out by Urbanis.
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