‘Energy sobriety’ Adidas Arena opens in Paris

Image: City of Paris

The Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, France, finally opened its doors on February 11^th! And the arena has been built based on the pillars of sustainability. It is known by its trade name – the Adidas Arena.

The entire construction process of the venue got delayed for which the opening subsequently got delayed. The ongoing Ukraine war had cast its long shadow on the venue construction work. Though the arena construction work was supposed to get wrapped up during Summer 2023, but finally the arena went on stream in February 2024 just in time for Paris 2024.

‘City of Paris’ stated that the arena, located at Porte de la Chapelle (18th) in Paris, will host several Olympic and Paralympic events during Paris 2024. Two gymnasiums for the local residents have also been built. The inauguration finally took place on February 11^th. On the occasion, a match of Paris Basketball, its resident club, was held preceded by an afternoon of activities open to all!

The Porte de La Chapelle Arena (also known by its project name Paris Arena II and its trade name Adidas Arena) is a multipurpose and modular hall located in the La Chapelle neighborhood of Paris (18th arrondissement). The arena will boasts a capacity of 8,000 seats for sporting events and 9,000 seats for concerts and shows. It will serve as the residence of the Paris Basketball.

The Paris Basketball is a French professional basketball club based in Paris, France. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the first division of basketball in France, and the EuroCup (an annual professional basketball club competition). The team plays its home games at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.

The 2024 Summer Olympics, commonly known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multisport event scheduled to take place from July 26^th-August 11^th, 2024 in France, with Paris as the main Host City and 16 other Cities spread across metropolitan France, plus one subsite in Tahiti – an island within the French overseas country and overseas collectivity of French Polynesia.

The above is the only Paris 2024 Games site built in Paris. The venue will be named the Adidas Arena. The esplanade located in front of the arena will be named Alice Milliat in honor of the pioneer of women’s sport.

Alice Milliat was a pioneer of women’s sport. Her lobbying on behalf of the female athletes led to the accelerated inclusion of more women’s events in the Olympic Games.
 

8,000-seat Arena

‘City of Paris’ further stated that the arena will contribute to the development of high-level sport and the hosting of major sporting events in the capital with nearly 8,000 seats. The construction of this new multifunctional hall also constitutes a commitment of the candidacy for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The facility will host the badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events of the Olympic Games, as well as the para badminton and para weightlifting events of the Paralympic Games.

Big-ticket sporting events will be held at the arena – both national and international. Also, concerts, shows and even conferences will be held.
 

Mixed District

The arena is located in a new mixed district between the Portes de la Chapelle and Aubervilliers (commune in France), with the creation of the ZAC Gare des Mines-Fillettes (part of a global urban transformation by creating strong connections with its immediate environment). The enclosure will be open for holding local sporting events and to the local residents and two gymnasiums have been integrated for this purpose. An additional space of 2,600 m2 has been made available for carrying out leisure activities and shopping space.

The areas skirting the arena have been renovated to enable the residents and the visitors to walk and live the place in the real sense of the term:

• A tree boulevard and easy ingress of spectators to the arena; and
• The redevelopment of rue de La Chapelle street, from where one can enter Paris to Rue Marx Dormoy. Families will be able to walk and savor the greenery and cyclists too can use this space.

 
Exulted Ezzedine Masmoudi, President of the Paris Sport Culture Football Club, “The above arena will open up geyser of opportunities for our neighborhood, for the 18th arrondissement and for our neighbors in Seine-Saint-Denis (department of France). There has never been a project of this magnitude for the Porte de Chapelle. We are looking forward to Paris 2024. The young people of our club, the families… everyone is already talking about it!”
 

Green Mantra

The arena, right from the word go, was built entirely on the pillars of sustainability. The City of Paris has delivered an architectural marvel with the venue boasting cutting-edge technology. The stadium has been designed by the architectural firms SCAU and NP2F (design studio in Paris, France) and has been built by the Bouygues Construction Bâtiment Ile de France.

Paris (France)-based the SCAU is an architectural company that provides planning, interior design and construction services to various clients.
 

Sustainability First

• The camp site, at the height of the construction site, accommodated nearly 400 workers. The objective: To reduce waste production as much as possible, responsible use of energy and raise awareness among the construction site stakeholders on sustainability and the need to protect the planet. This initiative was rewarded in December 2021 with a Territoria d’Or prize from the Public Innovation Observatory in recognition of the “action in favor of the environment” category;
• A concrete plant on site was set up: The production of low-carbon concrete was optimized on the site thanks to the installation of a concrete plant on site which allowed, depending on the weather, to adjust day by day the composition of concrete. The presence of the plant on site made it possible to limit the rotations of concrete mixers reducing noise pollution; and
• Recycling of construction site waste: Since the start of construction activities in the Summer of 2020 until February 2022, more than 900 tonnes of waste was recycled out of the 944 tonnes produced by the site. The objective was to recycle 95 percent of the construction site waste.

 
Thanks to a monitored and advanced sorting system on the site, reinforced by human resources who accompany the system, the above objectives were achieved in toto.
 

Architectural Feat

• A largely glazed base open to the neighborhood accommodates programs linked to the public space such as the local public facilities or the main reception hall of the large room opening up to the square to constitute a real City floor Parisian;
• At 11.50 m high, a vast green terrace, surrounded by a communicating strip extending beyond the base, offers nearly 3,000 m² of outdoor relaxation spaces with a panoramic view of Greater Paris; and
• Several distinct shapes emerge from the terrace symbolizing the different programs hosted, including the 360-degree crown of the arena, made of light-colored recyclable aluminum, a masterpiece.

 
The modular element of the facility will enable it to hold major acts in sports and cultural events. The peripheral terrace will work as a shared space for the visitors.
 

Wood Factor

The arena boasts acoustic prowess and the eye-catching green roofs. Biosourced materials have been widely used with 100 percent wooden frames for the two gymnasiums, mixed wood-concrete floors and 60 percent of the façades have been made of wood.
 

Reducing Carbon Footprint

To reduce the carbon footprint of the building, 30 percent of the concrete used for construction was from the low-carbon sectors (which reduce greenhouse gas emissions). Other materials came from recycling and the circular economy: This is the case of the walls of the reception hall made of compressed raw earth bricks obtained from excavations done in Greater Paris.

The circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling the existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the lifecycle of products is extended. In practice, it implies reducing waste to a minimum.
 

Carbon Sobriety

Carbon sobriety is also reflected in the choice of the energy mix: The arena will house an urban cold production plant using geothermal energy locally. This installation will meet in the short term the entire arena’s needs for cold and heat through the recovery of so-called waste heat from this installation, i.e., a 100 percent use of renewable and recovery energies for the arena. This new generation equipment will thus achieve unprecedented energy performance, consuming three times less energy than a traditional arena.

Energy Sobriety means reducing the energy consumption by changing the consumption styles, uses and behavior. There are multiple types of sobriety: Sobriety of use, which consists in reducing the duration, use or frequency of use of energy-consuming equipment.
 

Ease of Access

The venue has been designed in such a manner that it facilitates:

• Ease of access for the wheelchair-bound fans;
• Gender-neutral sanitary facilities; and
• A sensory room to meet the needs of fans suffering from behavioral disorders or autism.

 
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