Sustainable development and urban mobility: SPIE helps to modernise the Lescure bus depot in Bordeaux

Saint-Denis, 1 December 2020 – The Tertiaire division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire and SPIE CityNetworks, subsidiaries of the SPIE Group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, are combining their expertise to work on the Lescure bus depot modernisation project in the city of Bordeaux, which is looking to electrify part of its bus network.

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A strategic and complex transformation

Located right in the centre of Bordeaux, the Lescure bus depot is housed in a former industrial complex measuring 12,300 m². Built at the end of the 19th century and identified as an industrial heritage site by the UNESCO CLUB, it is now being fully refurbished. The city of Bordeaux is renovating it in order to create a new, modern bus depot, which is functional and fits perfectly into its surroundings. This project, overseen by the city of Bordeaux transport department, is part of a wide-ranging sustainable development programme aimed at improving urban mobility systems. Bordeaux will then be able to house, operate and maintain electric buses. This is a long-awaited project which is expected to improve substantially the quality of life of the residents of Bordeaux and its environs.

For SPIE, the contract involves renovating the electrics and installing charging stations for the buses. These works will have to be done in an environment with strict limitations in order to preserve a building with a special historical heritage. Committed to a commercial approach that always adds value, the teams at the Tertiaire division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire and SPIE CityNetworks have joined forces and are working on a joint approach, combining their specific expertise and digital solutions.

"Our local knowledge, our commitment to the environment and the ability of our teams to undertake complex restoration projects means we can participate fully in this key upgrade on behalf of the city of Bordeaux", says Norbert Tordjman, Divisional Manager at SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire (Tertiaire Division).

Energy renovation and E-mobility, two essential skill-sets

The Tertiaire division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire will carry out this work to install power supplies to the buildings and create high-voltage electrical infrastructure to power the bus recharging stations, completely renovating the lighting inside the depot and adjacent annexes (1,200 light points) and installing security systems for the entire site (video-surveillance, access control and fire safety systems). Work on the heating systems (two boilers and a cooling unit), ventilation (6 air-treatment systems), plumbing (1,400 ml of underground water mains), compressed air lines (190 Nm3/hr) and centralised technical control will also be carried out by the Tertiaire division. "In order to work as closely as possible with the current reality on the ground and identify all the services and solutions to be delivered, the city's project manager has given priority to creating BIM (building information modelling) models. Given the particular constraints of the location and our expertise in BIM, this seems to us the perfect approach to take for the range work that is needed", says Norbert Tordjman.

SPIE CityNetworks will provide expertise in e-mobility for this site, which is key to Bordeaux's public transport network. With 41 charging points and 1.7 MW of available power, these systems illustrate the high degree of technical expertise we have in our subsidiary to deal with sites with a high level of operational and safety constraints. "The deployment of electric charging stations for public transport vehicles is an important part of our subsidiary's development. Supporting cities with their transformation towards environmentally-friendly transport is core to our business", says Franck Le Calvé, Operations Director South West at SPIE CityNetworks.

The work, which started in July, should be completed by November 2021. As the site is subject to very specific technical constraints, this means the SPIE teams can show off their full potential and gives them a great opportunity to prove their expertise in the delivery of complex projects with a high level of added value.