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2024 Games: an innovative Aquatics Centre, easily adaptable for the Heritage phase!

4 minutes of reading
A facility that can evolve to suit its users: this is Bouygues Construction’s design goal for the 2024 Aquatics Centre. This location will provide the best swimming conditions for sportsmen and sportswomen during the Games and other high level competitions, but will also adapt to the sporting needs of local inhabitants.
The buildings of the former Engie research centre have been demolished and the clean-up work on the site has begun. This phase of the Paris 2024 project marks the beginning of a new era for the area of Saint-Denis (in Seine-Saint-Denis), and for its inhabitants. As a result, in spring 2024, the Aquatics Centre will be made available to the Games Organising Committee and then one year later (in summer 2025) it will become a sports centre for the general public as well as being used for national and international competitions.

Heritage facilities for the population

In order to create a sustainable facility capable of meeting the many needs of its users, Bouygues Construction – whose design was accepted – decided to make use of modularity. In practice, it will be possible to adjust the size of the Aquatics Centre, which will accommodate 5,000 people during the Games, and then 2,500 in the Heritage phase (after the Games). A format – much more suited to local inhabitants’ sporting practice – that will allow the transformation of a part of the space into a multi-sport activity area: including a fitness area, climbing wall, individual and team sports areas, and more.  

One single modular pool

This use of modularity will also apply to the big, 70-m long pool, made up of two pools (a swimming and a diving pool), separated by two 2.3-m mobile platforms and a variable size poolside area (up to 9 metres). This swimming pool will also be equipped with a mobile base so that the depth can be adjusted. This solution will allow the pool to be easily adapted for other uses: swimming lessons, aqua-baby sessions, training, competitions, etc. This innovative design will ensure that the Aquatics Centre is sustainable.

An eco-design construction

A single heat pump and a single filtration system will be needed for this pool. The architecture will be a great example of eco-construction. Ecological transition, environmental moderation, sustainability… This new sporting arena will set the tone for the future of the local area! It will be a testament to the many innovations that France is now able to implement in the area of sustainable construction. The materials will be bio-based; the architectural structure will be made of wood derived entirely from sustainably-managed European forests (with FSC certification) in order to be completely consistent with the planned green spaces in the area; the 5,000 m2 roof will be covered in solar panels in order to allow the building to meet all its energy needs; the interior design will be “made in France” from recycled products. A forward-looking undertaking! Beyond 2024, this centre will transform the local urban landscape and will offer its inhabitants exceptional conditions for practising and learning swimming and a multitude of other sports…

Did you know?

With almost 5,000 m2 of solar panels, the Saint-Denis Aquatics Centre will be one of the largest urban solar farms in France.