Paris 2024 Olympic Games: we visited the Athletes' Village construction site

With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the capital and its surroundings are being transformed, to best welcome tourists and athletes during the competition. The Athletes' Village is a key location, just 5 minutes from the Stade de France, which will be the athletes' base camp during the Games. Once the Games are over, the housing will be transformed to create a lively neighborhood open to all, where families, students and young professionals can settle, straddling Saint-Ouen, Saint-Denis and Ile-Saint-Denis. A masterly legacy, just like the rest of the infrastructure created for the occasion!

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At present, this monumental site is divided into several zones, with several companies sharing the work, including Vinci and Eiffage Immobilier. It was the latter that enabled us to get to the heart of the site, along with the Seine-Saint-Denis department. This village, Europe's largest construction site, represents a real challenge for all stakeholders, and in particular for the towns where it is located, providing interesting added value in terms of attractiveness. After the Games, the village will be home to shops, schools, a crèche, a high school and sports facilities, including a basketball hall on the top floor of a building with an exceptional view of the surrounding area.

Although a visit to a construction site is not technically the most beautiful way to see the landscape, it does give you an idea of the immensity of the project and its positive impact on future generations. Numerous explanations are given on theecological aspect, the materials used to emit the least carbon, the accessibility required for the Paralympic Games, and the technical prowess of such an achievement, destined to be shaped in line with the needs of its inhabitants.

For example, the athletes won't have their own kitchen! They'll be able to take them to the Cité du Cinéma, which will be transformed into a huge refectory for the occasion. However, each apartment will have a space that can be easily modified after the Games - enough to transform a bedroom into a fully-equipped kitchen! No air-conditioning is planned either, but the materials used, and in particular the reversible floor, will enable the building to adapt to climatic conditions, whether in the middle of winter or during a heatwave.

We also learn about the exceptional installation of the bridge linking Saint-Denis toIle-Saint-Denis, enabling residents to reach "the mainland" more easily. In a few years' time, the area will also benefit from one of the largest stations on the Grand Paris Express, Saint-Denis-Pleyel. It's good to know that most of the financing for this project is private- almost 96%!

Unlike most construction sites, which can push back the handover date if necessary, this is not possible here. Whatever happens, the athletes' village must be available to Paris 2024 by March 1 next year. During the competition, 14,500 athletes and their staff will be accommodated, 60,000 meals will be served daily, and a polyclinic will be available for the athletes. After the Games, 6,000 residents will be able to benefit from the 2,800 new homes, spread over almost 52 hectares, including six hectares of green space, with ahuge public park and areas reserved for pedestrians and soft mobility.

Rarely open to the general public, the village construction site will be open to the public on Thursday, October 12, 2023 , for a 2-hour tour of the site that will remain as a legacy after the Paris Games. By then, the buildings will have changed a lot from the photos and will be closer to their final design, as work is due to be completed by the end of the year. We hope you enjoy your visit!