TBS Education: the construction site of a new campus in Toulouse is about to start

29 July 2022 School

TBS Education, accompanied by its majority shareholder, the CCI Toulouse Haute-Garonne, and by Toulouse Métropole, is getting ready to write a new chapter in its history, with the imminent launch of the construction of the new campus located in downtown Toulouse.

This new stage follows the granting of a building permit in May 2022.

Work on this ambitious 30,000m² project, which will be able to accommodate more than 4,500 students simultaneously in new generation teaching spaces, is scheduled to start at the end of 2022 for operation in 2026.

Back to the project of a unique TBS Education campus in Toulouse

Founded in Toulouse in 1903 by the CCI Toulouse Haute-Garonne, the historic Toulouse Business School, TBS Education, has now an international reach through its campuses in Barcelona, Casablanca and Paris, while maintaining a strong local presence.

With a turnover of 55 million euros and 6,000 students trained each year, the school is now present in “la ville rose” on two campuses: the Lascrosses campus comprising 5 buildings, in the heart of the city center in the Compans-Caffarelli district, and the Entiore campus in the commune of Quint-Fonsegrives. To meet its strategic development ambitions and to offer a study environment which is always more adapted to its students, TBS Education wanted to bring together all its Toulouse activities within a single campus, a forerunner of new learning practices and focused on its educational community.

Privileged spaces will be dedicated to associative activities, student life, business projects (incubator), and sports activities. They will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to develop even more innovative teaching formats. The building has also been designed in compliance with the strictest standards in terms of Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility, a founding pillar of the strategy of TBS Education, which has recently become a mission-led company. It won the call for projects “NoWatt Buildings in Occitania” launched by the Occitania Region, which aims to support innovative construction and renovation projects. With this new campus, designed by the Portuguese architecture agency Francisco Aires Mateus, the new generation management school as conceived by TBS Education is becoming a reality.

To build the entire new campus, which will be owned by TBS Education, a budget of 120 million euros has been invested over five years, including financial support from the Regional Council of 6,5 million euros and the transfer of the land by Toulouse Métropole. Delayed by Covid-19, the project’s new provisional schedule calls for work to begin at the end of 2022 and the final campus to be delivered in 2026.

"I am delighted with the cooperation on this major project. With our four campuses and a network of more than 240 partner universities worldwide, we are a school open to the world, but we are also attached to our historic region, and this ambitious program demonstrates our desire to participate in its economic development. We have imagined this new campus in the image of our school: inspiring, innovative, sustainable, and inclusive. Located in the heart of downtown Toulouse, this 30,000 m2 building, designed to be open to its neighborhood, will be a true place of living and will become a model both in terms of teaching and architecture. Therefore, I am proud of this project, and particularly of the collaboration with Toulouse Métropole, the CCI Toulouse Haute-Garonne, the Occitania Region and all the other stakeholders. Together, we are strengthening the attractiveness of our territory."

Stéphanie Lavigne, Dean of TBS Education

"TBS Education contributes to the balance of the Training – Research – Employment triptych, which is essential to preserve and maintain our dynamic and to keep our rank as the 2nd student city in France, after Paris. The project carried out by TBS Education with the support of the CCI Toulouse Haute-Garonne, in partnership with Toulouse Métropole, takes into consideration the needs of the district’s inhabitants by proposing new local facilities and services. The sports teams and clubs have found a new renovated site at Léo Lagrange to prepare for future exploits. The project also considers environmental issues by requiring the reuse of deconstructed elements in the new premises to come. For Toulouse Metropole, supporting the development strategy of the historic management school TBS Education is perfectly in line with our local ambition."

Jean-Luc Moudenc, Mayor of Toulouse and President of Toulouse Métropole

A project management that cares about the impact on the neightborhood

Attentive to the impact that these new buildings will have on the Compans-Caffarelli neighborhood, TBS Education has joined forces with the PALANCA study and consultation office. Together, they have conducted, and continue to conduct, a consultation process with the various stakeholders in the project (associations, residents, students, shopkeepers, sports players, businesses etc.) to anchor the campus in the neighborhood. An informative and participatory website was created for the occasion, and a public meeting and specific workshops were also set up. Everyone was able to find meaning in this project, whether it was the development and opening of the esplanade, campus life, neighborhood activities (recycling center, vegetable baskets, community cafe etc.), future community life (creation of a community center), the greening of the building, and many other topics.

From an environmental point of view, some of the materials from the deconstruction of the small sports hall will be used for the construction of the new buildings and other constructions in the metropolis. Finally, the sports activities that were still being carried out in the big palace will be able to continue and the clubs will be relocated.

"I would particularly like to thank Toulouse Métropole for having supported this project from the outset. The campus in downtown Toulouse is the birthplace of TBS Education, which is why we wanted to give it special attention. It joins the new campus in Barcelona and soon in Casablanca, making TBS Education a school resolutely turned towards the international scene. In a context of strong competition, the school has now an attractive campus that allows it to differentiate itself from other management schools. Attractiveness that will also benefit our region by training the leaders of tomorrow."

Patrick Piedrafita, President of the CCI Toulouse Haute-Garonne, member of the Board of Directors of TBS Education

Key figures on this inspiring, innovative and environmentally responsasible campus