Project manager & renovation in Drumettaz-Clarafond.

On the southern edge of Aix-les-Bains, Drumettaz-Clarafond belongs to the Grand Lac conurbation and maintains a rare balance: that of a village that has kept a human scale, just minutes from everything. The municipality is spread between the plain, facing the Grand Verger retail park and the Aix-les-Bains – Chambéry corridor, and the hillsides of Drumettaz and Clarafond, two historic villages overlooking the Aix basin from the first slopes. Life here is peaceful, with shops, schools, Aix-les-Bains station and Lac du Bourget close at hand.

This privileged location has fuelled dynamic residential development: housing estates from the 1980s to 2010s, detached houses on individual plots, recent developments on the edge of the plain — all alongside the old farmhouses of the hamlets, reminders of the municipality's farming past. The result: a local market where the need for building work is constant. Houses from the 80s and 90s are reaching the age for a complete renovation, growing families are looking to extend or add a storey rather than move on land that has become scarce and expensive, and the last building plots call for well-integrated new-build projects.

To carry out these projects, the project manager is the natural ally: they design the plans, file the permissions, tender and coordinate the trades, and protect your budget and schedule through to handover. And in Drumettaz-Clarafond, we are playing at home: our office at 198 Avenue du Grand Port in Aix-les-Bains is five minutes' drive from the town hall. This immediate proximity translates into very concrete benefits — frequent site visits, responsiveness when the unexpected happens, easy-to-arrange meetings, in-depth knowledge of the local trades and planning rules.

House renovation is the most common request in the municipality. The houses on Drumettaz-Clarafond's housing estates, built between the 1980s and 2000s, often need a complete upgrade: opening the kitchen onto the living room, creating a master suite, rewiring and replumbing, insulating lofts and walls, replacing an old boiler with a heat pump, high-performance windows. We design these projects room by room or as a whole-house renovation, then manage all the trades through to handover.

Extensions and adding a storey respond to a local reality: families want to stay in Drumettaz-Clarafond, but their houses are becoming too small. Single-storey extension onto the garden, an additional storey when the ground footprint is limited, converting a garage into a living space, creating a floor under the roof: each solution is designed according to the plot, the orientation and the planning regulations. We handle the prior declaration (déclaration préalable) or building permit, and take care over the architectural junction between old and new.

Finally, the hamlets still have fine old farmhouses with generous volumes — barns, stone buildings, remarkable roof timbers. Converting them into homes is a demanding exercise: change of use to be checked under the PLU, structural assessment, damp treatment, insulation suited to old buildings, bringing services up to standard. It is also one of the most rewarding projects there is, when original character meets contemporary comfort. On the last free plots on the hillsides and the plain, we also support new-build projects, from sketch to handover of the keys.

Atelier NovAlp's strength is bringing three professions together under one roof: architect, project manager and RGE-certified general contractor. In practice, you no longer coordinate a designer, an engineering firm and a dozen or so trades yourself: a single point of contact takes charge of your project in Drumettaz-Clarafond, from the first sketch to handover of the keys. This turnkey approach eliminates the grey areas between the people involved — which is where most delays, cost overruns and defects arise.

Depending on the nature of the project, we adapt the arrangement: architect's assignment for a new build or a large extension, project management for a renovation with separate trade contracts, or general contracting with a commitment to results for a locked-in budget. On the planning side, applications are filed at Drumettaz-Clarafond town hall and processed within the Grand Lac conurbation: heights, ground footprint, external appearance, rainwater management, requirements specific to the hillsides — we systematically check the zone regulations before drawing, for an application that complies from the first submission.

Our RGE CertiRénov certification no. CR-2026-73-0095 (Offre globale de rénovation, issued by Qualitel Certification) also gives you access to grant schemes: MaPrimeRénov', Energy Savings Certificates (CEE) and local grants. We calculate your real out-of-pocket cost and build these subsidies into your project's financing plan. Discover all of our services or our page dedicated to Aix-les-Bains.