With the Paris 2024 coming closer it’s time to take a look at the Olympic and Paralympic Village that will become a home for athletes and their delegations for the entire duration of the Games.

Located in the French Department of Seine-Saint-Denis, in the three municipalities of Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen, and L’Île-Saint-Denis, this global village will host athletes and members of over 200 Olympic delegations and close to 180 Paralympic delegations, from all countries, cultures, and sports. In addition to providing athletes with the best service possible, the Village is also designed to deliver a new part of the city, mirroring Paris 2024’s exemplary environmental standards for the people of Seine Saint Denis.

The consortiums that built the Olympic and Paralympic Village submitted their bids to SOLIDEO, the company tasked with delivering the Olympic facilities, during a consultation that began in March 2019. The project captured Paris 2024’s vision: the Village was built to pioneering environmental standards, meet athletes’ requirements during the Games, and benefit the community for years to come.

The Olympic and Paralympic Village: a Few Facts and Figures

The Village spans parts of three cities: Saint-Denis, Saint Ouen and L’Île-Saint-Denis. It will accommodate 14,250 athletes during the Olympic Games, and 8,000 during the Paralympic Games. Up to 60,000 meals will be served each day, and a medical clinic will be available at all times for the athletes. After the Games, the Village will become a neighborhood with:

• 2,500 new homes
• One student residence
• One hotel
• A three-hectare landscaped park
• About seven hectares of gardens and parks
• 120,000 sqm of offices and city services
• 3,200 sqm of neighborhood shops

Legacy: The City of the Future

Beyond the buildings’ modern looks, it was the commitments matching Paris 2024’s vision for a low-carbon Games and sound financial stewardship that tipped the balance in favor of the winning bid. The Village meets Paris 2024’s and SOLIDEO’s requirements regarding environmental excellence, and the goal to design and deliver a neighborhood reflecting urban spaces as we envision them in 2050:

It will help to protect and foster biodiversity (with rooftops built to house insects and birds, enclosures with openings for small animals to pass through, etc.);

The carbon-emissions budget will help to achieve the goals in Paris’s Climate Plan and stay on track for carbon neutrality in 2050, for example using wood and other organically sourced materials;

It will help to adapt the city to the climate in 2050, with features that will accommodate and mitigate the effects of climate change (surfacings, plants, and water in public areas, etc.).

After the Games, the operators will start repurposing the Village’s residential units in November 2024. They will hand over a new, eco-responsible, functional neighborhood, which will blend into the city of the future in 2025.