Timber Framed School in Cambrai: Northern France’s First

The Robert Badinter Secondary School in Cambrai, France, is a notable example of a timber framed school. Designed by Coldefy with Relief Architects, it is the first of its kind in northern France. The project accommodates 650 students and integrates modern construction within a historic industrial site, reflecting current approaches to sustainable institutional design.

Exterior facade of the timber-framed school in Cambrai, showing its contemporary design with vertical glass bands and front green spaces where students sit. — The building’s exterior combines wooden cladding with horizontal glazing, alongside open public areas that encourage social interaction beyond classroom walls.

Design Concept

The school sits on a former railyard opposite Cambrai’s 19th century train station. Its linear form follows the street grid and aligns with a row of mature trees. An offset gabled roof references traditional railway halls. A cantilever marks the entrance and provides shelter. Classrooms wrap around a double-height atrium lit by skylights. This interior street links all key spaces. A separate timber framed block houses a glass fronted canteen and staff housing. Together, the buildings frame a central courtyard with a playground, sports field, and covered walkways strategies often seen in urban planning and institutional buildings.

Long interior corridor of the timber-framed school in Cambrai, showcasing its exposed wooden structure and high ceiling with students moving between floors. — The exposed timber structure defines the spatial experience, linking upper and lower levels through a long, active circulation spine.

Materials & Construction

The Robert Badinter Secondary School in Cambrai, France, is a notable example of a timber-framed school. Designed by Coldefy with Relief Architects, it is the first of its kind in northern France. The project accommodates 650 students and integrates modern construction within a historic industrial site, reflecting current approaches to sustainable institutional architectural design. Its location on a former railyard opposite the city’s 19th-century station ties the project to broader strategies in cities regeneration, while material choices such as spruce cladding and exposed structural wood align with evolving standards in building materials. The accompanying retrofit of a 1906 train shed into a public sports hall further enriches this entry in ArchUp’s global archive of adaptive reuse.

Canteen of the timber-framed school in Cambrai, showing exposed wooden columns, a spacious floor, and students eating under natural and artificial lighting. — The communal dining space blends function with comfort, dominated by wood finishes and spherical pendant lights, allowing students to interact in an open, well lit environment.

Sustainability

A biomass boiler fueled by local wood pellets covers 80% of heating needs. Solar panels supply 15% of electricity. Rainwater harvesting meets half the bathroom water demand. These systems earned the school an Excellent rating under France’s High Environmental Quality scheme. The project aligns with global benchmarks in sustainability and demonstrates how architectural design can balance performance and spatial quality.

Interior gym of the timber-framed school in Cambrai, showing OSB-clad walls, wooden flooring, and students playing basketball under an exposed structural ceiling. — The gym integrates industrial structure with educational function, where wood panels and exposed metal trusses define the interior spatial character.

Urban Impact

The school anchors Cambrai’s broader urban renewal effort. Its public sports hall is open after school hours, strengthening community access. This dual role reflects current thinking in cities policy and institutional construction. Thoughtful interior design also enhances daily use without ornamentation.

Could timber framing become a standard for public schools in seismically active regions of Europe?

Architectural Snapshot: A 650 student timber framed secondary school in Cambrai, France, combining concrete stability and wooden warmth, with a repurposed train shed as a public sports hall.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

The article presents the Robert Badinter School in Cambrai as northern France’s first timber framed prototype, rooting its narrative in environmental rhetoric and urban layering between a historic railyard and seismic regulations. The architects evoke industrial memory through a gabled roof and a cantilevered entrance, merging concrete and wood with technical assurance to realize a timber framed school that meets both structural and symbolic demands. Yet the piece avoids probing the model’s economic viability or bureaucratic transferability, relying too easily on sustainability as a symbolic endorsement. One must acknowledge the project’s pragmatic sourcing of local timber and its responsiveness to code but a quiet doubt remains: will history value this building for how it performs, or only for how it looks?