The renovation company in charge of transforming a Paris suburb into the Olympic village for the 2024 Games aims to make it a pioneering environmental project while also catering to athletes’ needs during and after the event. The resulting complex may also have implications for future Olympic villages around the world.
As with previous Olympics villages, the one in Paris will be a temporary community of apartments that can house about 14,500 athletes. It’s located on the island of L’Ile-Saint-Denis, which is part of a city block in the impoverished Saint-Denis district, in the northeastern edge of the capital.
Among other features, the village will have a multipurpose meeting point where athletes can get a haircut or buy groceries, mail a letter, withdraw cash and watch TV coverage of the games on a giant screen. There are also a few restaurants and a medical center. Athletes can rent bikes or use electric shuttles to get to training sites.
The main dining hall, which will have room for 3,260 people, serves 40,000 meals each day—with a mix of French and international cuisines. There are more than a dozen other restaurants around the village, as well as cafes and a food truck court. The food will be prepared by a chef who’s won several Michelin stars in France.
The buildings are designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill, with input from local architects and designers, including Outcomist and Carlo Ratti Associati. The firm says the buildings will have “minimal environmental impact” and meet NZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) standards through innovative sustainability features, such as passive cooling strategies, rooftop gardens, recycled stormwater systems and solar panels. Construction materials were delivered to the site on barges, rather than by trucks, to cut down on carbon emissions. renovation company Olympic village