Colorful districts for athletes and residents
From 2025, as part of the long-term subsequent use of a major sporting event the buildings will offer around 2,500 rental or owner-occupied apartment units and a student residence, as well as office, commercial and green spaces for around 6,000 people living and 6,000 people working across a total of 52 hectares as part of the long-term reuse. As a result, the major project will not only be part of the country’s sporting history, it will also contribute to the city of Paris' target of becoming climate neutral by 2050. Right from the outset, the result in envisaged to be an attractive, long-lived, inclusive and resilient part of the city, which is already taking relevant parameters for future-proof architecture and urban planning into account.
Use of sustainable construction materials
In addition to the integration of plenty of green areas and space for biodiversity, this also includes the use of sustainable construction materials. Thanks to the use of wood and low-carbon concrete as load-bearing structure, the CO2 footprint of the new quarter is up to 50 percent lower than that of a neighbourhood of the same scale built using conventional methods. The urban design is based on plans by the famous French architect Dominique Perrault and agence ter. They envisaged several elongated building structures along the Seine. In general, the river also plays a role in the design. The heterogeneous blocks reflect the idea of various ``îlots bateaux``, i.e. ship islands, arranged at right angles to the river and parallel to the major development axes.
A brownfield area becomes an eco-neighbourhood
The northernmost two islands in the Saint-Denis area are home to the Universeine quarter. The 6.4-hectare area, converted from former brownfield land, is now divided into four rectangular blocks, each enclosing one or more green courtyards. The reuse from 2025 onwards provides for 78,600 square metres of living space, 63,000 square metres of office space and 4,300 square metres of commercial and leisure space in this area alone, including a day care centre and a medical centre. The reuse concept includes the ability to partially remove buildings and a high proportion of reusable or recyclable building materials. Other measures include green roofs, the implementation of renewable energies, connection of all buildings to the urban heating and cooling network, open spaces created as ecological corridors and fresh air corridors, and the use of soft mobility with connections to the nearby Pleyel multimodal hub.
Timber and hybrid-timber construction in block A2
Two blocks, Îlots A1 and A2, rise from a continuous foundation on the northernmost ship island. Above this are a series of densely built-up individual buildings of varying heights and with different façade designs. The scale and heterogeneous design of the buildings are based on the typical Parisian block perimeter development with historic rows of houses along the boulevards. The larger block A2 comprises a rectangular area of 130 x 58 metres around two large courtyards, each with an area of 1,300 square metres. Three architectural firms were commissioned to design four 25-metre-wide plots each. The houses built by Atelier Pascal Gontier are built above the massive concrete foundation to a height of six metres or more, using entirely timber construction.
Block A2 | Building A2
Atelier Pascal Gontier planned various special shapes of MOEDING ALPHATON® façade panels for three buildings in block A2. On the north-facing building A2, oxide red panels with a specially designed groove structure characterize the façade. The panels, finely divided into five to six grooves, and the correspondingly dimensioned joints create a homogeneously structured façade surface in the color oxide red.
Architecture: Atelier Pascal Gontier
Photo: Takuji Shimmura
Block A2 | Building C1
ALPHATON® panels in the color ivory also clad the Îlot A2 / Bat C1 building in a special groove structure. The project-specific glazes and structures of the panels were specially developed for all projects by the MOEDING laboratory in various rounds of coordination with the architects.
Architecture: Atelier Pascal Gontier
Photo: Takuji Shimmura
Block A2 | Building F1
The most striking building, A2/ Bat F1, features a vertical installation of portrait format panels with a special 75 millimetre thickness. The special glazing in transparent black ensures that different reflections can be seen on the façade depending on the incidence of light and sunlight.
Architecture: Gaëtan Le Penhuel Architectes
Photos: Sergio Grazia
It’s a match
With the combination of timber frame construction and ceramic façade, the planners are consistently implementing the principle of using sustainable construction materials. Wood and ceramics make a significant contribution to reducing the carbon footprint of the new-build quarter and also impress with another aspect of sustainability: the ceramic façade protects the timber construction permanently and ensures a robust, durable and low-maintenance building envelope.