Since 2023, the Studies Department has been working with the city of Houilles to identify opportunities for the temporary use of decommissioned municipal facilities. Three buildings —a former municipal garage, a former daycare center, and a pavilion— are the subject of feasibility studies to define the framework within which projects can be developed there from a regulatory, technical, and structural standpoint.

In 2025, two of these buildings —the former Charles de Gaulle daycare center and the former Le Dôme municipal garage— were repurposed to foster community, creativity, and solidarity among Houilles residents through two calls for projects. Plateau Urbain’s coordination of these calls for projects provides both project leaders and the city with feedback and tools to facilitate the opening of these two “third places.”

The Charles de Gaulle daycare center, now known as Les Colibris, houses a restaurant and workspaces, all managed through a cooperative governance structure that brings together the project leaders, a local association called Emergy, and a residents’ collective.

Le Dôme, meanwhile, has become an event space for the city and its partners and now hosts New Year’s celebrations, live performances, and key events in the community’s calendar. At the same time, the workshops are undergoing renovations to accommodate local artisans and artists, who have taken on part of the management of the workspaces, as well as spaces for woodworking training, education on the circular economy and waste reduction, and music studios.