The EIB is granting a €45 million loan to French engineering school CentraleSupélec to renovate the historic Supélec building in the last stage of its Paris-Saclay campus programme.
CentraleSupélec is set to receive a 25-year, €45 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to completely refurbish its Bréguet building. The project will unlock a total of €137 million in additional financing provided by the Île-de-France region under the CPER (state-region contract plan) and the Investissement d’Avenir programme.
The major renovation of the Bréguet building is the last phase of CentraleSupélec’s Paris-Saclay campus programme. Started in 2015, this programme included the opening of the Eiffel (45 000 m2) and Bouygues (23 000 m2) buildings in 2017, both of which benefited from EIB financing.
The former home of the Supélec engineering school, the Bréguet building closed at the end of 2023 for complete refurbishment to transform it into CentraleSupélec’s new innovation hub. The renovation includes the total reorganisation of the 36 000 m2, multi-level space, tailoring it to the current and future needs of the school while respecting its architectural heritage and ensuring it fits in perfectly with other buildings on the Paris-Saclay campus.
The building will be sub-divided as follows:
- 8 000 m2 of research space to provide the permanent members and partners of the Laboratoire de génie électrique et électronique de Paris (GeePs) with a single working location, and to bring together the Signaux et systèmes (L2S) and SONDRA laboratories.
- 7 000 m2 for companies to promote both applied research and the acceleration of the entrepreneurial projects of students and graduates of the school, with a view to bringing CentraleSupélec closer to the business world.
- Various adapted and specially designed teaching spaces.
- The Office of the President of Paris-Saclay University will also move to this building.
The refurbishment programme was designed to significantly reduce the school’s carbon footprint and environmental impact. It is expected to cut energy use per m2 by two-thirds via actions including the revegetation of various spaces, the use of high-performance materials and the reuse of other materials. It will contribute to the EIB's investment goals in financing climate action and environmental sustainability by providing low-energy infrastructure and applying circular economy principles.
The Bréguet building will open in autumn 2026, after two and a half years of work (asbestos removal, renovation and structural changes) carried out by a consortium led by Autumn (Patriarche Group) and planned by architects Atelier Kempe Thill and Patriarche.
Supporting innovation, education and teaching infrastructure is a priority for the EIB. This project is a direct part of the EU strategy to improve training and skills, ensuring that European economies will be competitive and internationally influential in the future.
“This loan clearly shows how the EIB is supporting education and innovation,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. “The European Union’s long-term financing institution has made financing education and training infrastructure a priority, with an expected impact on the competitiveness of the economy and employment. Refurbishing this historic building will energise the work of this engineering school and make Saclay — which already has an attractive ecosystem of major scientific wealth — even more attractive.”
“This EIB financing is a key element enabling us to complete our campus. The Bréguet building refurbishment is a key catalyst in the development strategy included in our strategic plan. The goal is to see twice as many engineers, entrepreneurs, researchers and practising professionals graduate from an expanded academic programme, creating a world-class school of engineering,” added CentraleSupélec President Romain Soubeyran.
Background information
About the European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its 27 Member States. Created by the Treaty of Rome and founded in 1958, the EIB’s remit is to contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States. It borrows large volumes of funds on the capital markets and lends them on very favourable terms to support projects that help the European Union achieve its major objectives. Between 2020 and 2022, the Bank provided more than €10 billion to support lower and upper secondary schools in almost all French regions. In higher education, it also financed the renovation of the Polytechnique campus in 2022 (€70 million) and the INSEAD Business School campus in 2023 (€60 million). As the EU climate bank, the EIB is one of the world’s biggest lenders supporting the green transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon growth model.
About CentraleSupélec
CentraleSupélec is a public institution devoted to the sciences, culture and business. It was created in January 2015 to bring together Ecole Centrale Paris and Supélec. It now has four French campuses (Paris-Saclay, Metz, Rennes and Reims) serving 5 000 students including 3 800 in engineering, and groups together 18 laboratories and research teams. A heavily international environment (25% of its students and nearly a quarter of its teaching body come from outside France), the school has formed over 170 partnerships with the world’s premier institutions. A leading higher education and research institution, CentraleSupélec is a reference point in engineering and systems sciences, ranked among the best in the world. It co-founded Paris-Saclay University in 2020 and chairs the Ecoles Centrales Group (CentraleSupélec, Centrale Lyon, Centrale Lille, Centrale Nantes and Centrale Méditerranée), which runs international branches in Beijing (China), Hyderabad (India) and Casablanca (Morocco).