North Paris Arena, Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Designed for swift transitions between three Olympic sports

• CLIENT: Paris 2024 COJOP
• LOCATION: Paris, France
• CAPACITY: 6,000
• SERVICES: Architects + Events

The temporary North Paris Arena, located within the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre in Seine-Saint-Denis, accommodated the competition for three very different sports – preliminary rounds for boxing, fencing for modern pentathlon and sitting volleyball for the Paralympic Games.

Responding to the need to accommodate a trio of sports across the Olympics and Paralympics, WOO understood the design challenge and prioritised the need for a fully accessible venue that was designed for swift transitions in its event overlay design and site maintenance delivery.

For the boxing competition, the arena featured a closed bowl with intimate seating stands, floor seating and accessible platforms bringing fans and visitors as close to the action as possible.

In a rapid, 48-hour transition, the field of play was enlarged, the floor seats cleared and nine fencing pistes installed to provide the backdrop for modern pentathlon fencing. Although the sitting volleyball was the final event for the venue, its requirements and demands formed the basis of all previous venues. The WOO team understood the importance of designing a fully accessible Paralympic venue that accommodated the Olympics, rather than the other way round.