Populous to Develop Plans for 38 Olympic Venues at 2024 Paris Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) have officially approved ambitious plans to transform Paris into an Olympic Park after naming the French capital as the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Populous, the international sports and entertainment design practice, and Egis, the Paris-based, international consultancy, engineering and operation group, were chosen in 2016 to collaborate on the Paris 2024 bid and have provided the necessary technical expertise and assistance required to develop plans for no fewer than 38 Olympic and Paralympic venues spread across Paris.

The winning concept of Paris as an Olympic Park will see Olympic and Paralympic events take place against the spectacular backdrop of Paris’ historic buildings, streets and landmarks including the Champs Elysees and River Seine as well as beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

The Games will build on the history and identity of Paris -- as well as its experience in hosting the climax of the world-renowned Tour de France -- to create an unforgettable experience.

The architectural design for both new and temporary venues and facilities will seek to shape and integrate sporting spectacles in the city’s urban landscape whist supporting Paris 2024’s commitment to be the most sustainable Games ever.

"Bringing people together to enjoy an unforgettable experience is the overriding ambition of Populous in all that we do and is at the heart of the Paris 2024 vision," Populous Senior Principal Ben Vickery said.

"The city of Paris will be a magnificent Olympic Park and transforming some of the world’s most beautiful and historic sites into temporary stunning stages for sport will provide unforgettable images around the globe.”

Egis's experience in sporting venues includes its contributions to major projects such as the construction or renovation of most of the host stadiums used during the 2016 UEFA European Championship: the Matmut-Atlantique stadium in Bordeaux, the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne, the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, and the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Lille.

Egis' Diogo Taddei, who supervised the work of the consortium, said the design mission was to understand how each sport and discipline could best function in existing venues, new buildings when required as legacy and temporary modular sites, identifying the best option in each case.

"One of the biggest challenges was to transform illustrious Parisian monuments into sports venues, adapting them to the requirements of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Populous associate principal in Sydney, Al Baxter said there were six guiding design principles that make for great design outcomes around entertainment-lead precincts.

1. Creating Experiences

2. A Sense Of Place

3. Connectivity

4. Future-Proofing

5. Self-Sustaining, and

6. Long-Term Commitment.