In an idyllic environment surrounded by remarkable trees, the conversion of this former three-hectare campsite was inaugurated in October 2025, marking the opening of a new leisure centre for 200 children from Limoges and school field trips.

This facility includes accommodations, making it highly versatile and allowing it to be used as often as possible by different groups (throughout the week and during school holidays).

By preserving remarkable trees, and by incorporating four buildings on the site into the design, the environmental approach was continued with new buildings constructed from local wood and using straw bale insulation.

The interior finishing touches favour the use of natural, healthy, and reused materials.

The New Aquitaine Sustainable Building approach certified the building at the SILVER level (a temporary level, as the third commission has not yet been carried out).

The project
Children enter the leisure centre through a porch and onto a lawn lined with a gallery that connects all the centre’s facilities.

The natural wood cladding of each block is complemented by touches of colour that identify the different houses, serving as landmarks.

The wooden gallery connects the various areas around the meadow, including reception, administration, a centre for children aged 6 to 11, accommodations, catering, and a kitchen. This spatial experience creates a reassuring and identifiable movement starting from the heart of the site towards the buildings, the true starting point for discovering the wilder fringes of the site.

A series of tree-like pillars punctuates the architectural walkway. Covered playgrounds provide sheltered outdoor areas for playing in all seasons, opening onto the majestic woodland. Each hub is connected to a section of the park.

A variety of games taking advantage of the topography created from the excavated earth on the site provide climbing, sliding, rolling, and orienteering activities. There is a small outdoor theatre, hills with slides, tunnels, footbridges, sports fields for matches, and archery tournaments set in a vast wooded area.

Part of the campsite is used for an outdoor experience. The exploration of this biodiversity ranges from woodland to more natural meadows.

Each building has its own identity, while featuring similar materials: wood cladding on covered areas for durability and plaster on exposed facades. The activity rooms are deliberately set apart from the standard classrooms, with large sloping ceilings and reused elements such as doors used as interior cladding, providing surfaces of expression.

The architecture is educational for children, created from renewable materials and energy efficient. It offers spatial and acoustic comfort to users, made from eco-friendly materials sourced from nature and available on site, such as wood, hemp, straw, and earth.

BDNA (New Aquitaine Sustainable Building) Silver environmental certification
The city of Limoges wanted an exemplary building to accommodate young children, and chose an ambitious approach: the BDNA approach (New Aquitaine Sustainable Building – aimed for gold but achieved the silver level) aims to reduce carbon impact and use healthy and natural materials sourced from sustainable sources.

The BDNA approach emphasises the importance of the entire project development process. The project was therefore developed jointly with teaching staff, users, and the children’s municipal council. All participants were present from the origin of the project to the inauguration alongside the mayor and representatives of various institutions. The project demonstrates its roots in the local area: the chosen site is a 3-hectare former municipal campsite near a lake and forests. It continues to be used for recreational purposes and features remarkable trees.

Four houses from the former campsite have been renovated. One has been converted into workshops, another into a dining room for 3 to 5 year olds. The third is still used for its original purpose as showers/kitchen for the campsite section of the park. The fourth, the former campsite reception, is used as a starting point for bike rides and as a gardening shed.

Socially, it is an ambitious project that welcomes children from all backgrounds and includes people with disabilities.

Taking energy consumption into account, the agency opted for energy efficiency in their choice of systems and construction methods, incorporating bioclimatic design, carefully thought out insulation, construction using low-carbon materials sourced from renewable bio-based and geo-based industries, and reused materials. They are also including existing buildings in the overall design. The shower and kitchen facilities at the former campsite have been completely transformed.

Focus on straw insulation
The agency has been using straw since 2008 and wanted to introduce this insulation in the form of bales of straw thanks to the ATEX certification obtained by the company LELO at the very beginning of the project. The use of bales of straw for the roof was considered, but as ATEX certification did not cover this case, cellulose wadding was used instead.

The project also included the renovation of the sanitary facilities at the former campsites, which were insulated with hemp line. Earth plaster was also used on the hemp line and the interior masonry.

The combination of all these materials ensures optimal comfort, both hygrothermal and acoustic, and, more generally, creates high quality interior environments.

Water use
Water is omnipresent, with a rainwater drainage system included in the central courtyard, and a retention basin for the vegetable garden.

Carbon footprint
The project is designed according to a bioclimatic and sustainable approach. Built with a timber frame, it incorporates highly insulated walls made from bio-based materials, such as chopped straw and cellulose wadding, offering excellent thermal performance while maintaining a low carbon footprint.

Cooperation between the various project stakeholders has enabled performance levels to be achieved that are nearly 40% higher than the RE2020 requirements. The design was also guided by dynamic thermal simulation, ensuring excellent summer comfort for users.

Design: R2K Architecte + Atelier Quatre
Construction Phase: Atelier 4
Photography: Jean-François Tremege