Olympic Aquatics Centre, Paris 2024

• Architects: Ateliers 2/3/4/, VenhoevenCS 
• Categories: Arena, Stadia & Arenas
• Area: 20000 m²
• Year: 2024
• City: Saint-Denis
• Country: France
• Features: Facade, Glass, Timber Construction

Paris 2024 Olympic Aquatics Centre is the only permanent facility built for the 2024 Games. The Aquatics Centre emerges as a curved wooden sculpture from the Grand Paris landscape, combining technical innovations with the highest environmental credentials. With its clever configuration, limited need of materials and energy under an ultra-thin hanging roof, France’s largest urban solar farm, the arena will host 5.000 spectators for water polo, diving and artistic swimming Olympic competitions.

As the only facility built specifically for the first sustainable Games of the modern era, in a city and metropole that placed environmental issues at the heart of its policies, the Aquatics Centre goes beyond environmental regulations and requirements. Sustainability, biodiversity and connectivity are key in all aspects of its nature-inspired design.

The sports hall’s structure uses a unique system of long-span tensioned wooden beams supporting the hanging roof. This approach reduces the conditioned air volume by 50%, providing both architectural dynamism and a lightweight construction system. Externally, pre-grained Douglas fir lamellas wrap the building, offering acoustic, ventilation, and solar protection, while creating a sheltered reception space.

The pool’s bottom adjusts in depth to meet diving board height requirements, reducing water use by 25%. Our sustainable design philosophy means that the materials we use are carefully selected in terms of quality, quantity and origin, but above all for their ability to optimize their life cycle. Priority was given to bio-sourced materials.

The Olympic Aquatics Centre was awarded the Biodivercity Label and the score Exceptional for the “NF HQE sports equipment”.