During the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Architects’ Journal featured a series of postcards from designers in the city including these from wooarchitects about what it was like to work on this global sporting showcase.
Sunday 28 July – Chateauroux Shooting Centre, the Centre National de Tir Sportif
Manon Lauret:
This first week of the Games has meant a very early start for me. As part of the venue and infrastructure team responsible for the shooting venue at the Centre National de Tir Sportif, I’ve been on site every day at 5am. One benefit of the early start is to see the sun rising behind the hill of the trap and skeet as we enter a new day of competition.
There’s always a lot of focus on shooting on the opening days of the games, because traditionally this is where the first medal is won – this time by China
With temperatures up to 35 degrees this week, we’ve paid special attention to the temporary shelters, air conditioning and misting systems to keep everyone comfortable. We’ve also integrated a vegetation plan that will be relocated in the city after the event, as part of the sustainability and legacy approach of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
We’re also on standby in case the weather changes. If it gets windy, the team is responsible for lowering the national flags in the spectators’ plaza and removing items like drapes, which could get blown away.
Fortunately, I’ve been able to watch some of the shooting competition and see the venue full of spectators and athletes. Next, we move into the Paralympics, preparing for the transition and making improvements for the next athletes.
Saturday 3 August – Aquatics Centre
Mathilde Spriet:
The Aquatics Centre is one of just two permanent legacy projects, alongside the La Chapelle Adidas Arena. We’ve been integral to its design, development, and delivery. Throughout the Games, our role has been to oversee maintenance, ensuring the venue operates smoothly. From the outset, we faced significant challenges, particularly regarding tight time schedules and spatial constraints.
Last week, a major task was transitioning the venue from hosting water polo and diving to artistic swimming and diving. We had just an eight-hour window overnight to remove platforms and make the necessary adjustments for the next phase.
Wednesday 7 – Aquatics: cooling down
Carolina Lopez:
One of the most exciting elements has been creating the warm-up pool at the Aquatics Centre. It’s an engineering wonder, and I’ve followed its development from scratch. It’s incredible — a temporary, elevated, steel-structure pool measuring 50 x 25m and 3m deep, built in just five weeks.
We’ve been lucky enough to witness various aquatics competitions and other sports including athletics, boxing, rugby, archery and climbing. With the warm-up pool not needed for the Paralympics, our next significant task is dismantling it and all temporary infrastructures after the artistic swimming final. This process will start late Saturday night and promises to be an exciting project to be part of.
Source – Architects’ Journal – https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/paris-2024-olympic-diary-week-one-the-games-invite-you-to-discover-the-city/
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