near Paris

Location Vaires-sur-Marne, France

Client / operator Conseil régional Île-de-France, Paris

Architects Auer Weber DE – 80335 München www.auer-weber.de

Octant Architecture FR – 76000 Rouen

Author Auer Weber

Photos Aldo Amoretti

Official opening June 2019

SPORTS MOSAIC

OLYMPIC AQUATIC STADIUM IN ÎLE-DE-FRANCE REGION NEAR PARIS

The “Stade nautique Olympique d‘Île-de-France” is the first sports facility to be completed for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in France. At a single location, it unites a landscaped, didactic river, a white-water course for competition and training, a 2,000 meters long water body, sports halls, accommodation and a restaurant. Designed by Auer Weber, Europe’s biggest white-water centre will be the venue for the rowing, canoe, kayak and slalom competitions.

Integrated in a historic landscape, the 200 ha aquatic sports park of Vaires-Torcy is located on the banks of the Marne east of Paris in the region Île-de-France. The large lake that accounts for most of it forms its western boundary, while a close-to-home recreation area with a bathing lake and golf course can be found at the eastern end. To the south the park is bordered by the Marne, and to the north by a shipping canal. Resembling an island, the “Île de Vaires” recreation area is situated between these two water bodies. In 2012, Île-de-France region decided to redesign and supplement the existing areas of greenery and water – including the regatta course used by top-level athletes and the general public that offered ideal conditions for other sports as well, such as sailing and windsurfing. The new aquatic centre was intended to encourage professional and amateur sport, while also benefiting leisure and recreational use. At the same time, it was also the aim to create a sports centre satisfying the requirements of a rowing and kayak facility for the

competitions of the 2024 Olympic Games. In the course of all this, the existing tennis hall on the north bank was to be upgraded and supplemented with further sports facilities so as to offer users attractive leisure opportunities all year round.

Mosaic of little islands The new sports facilities are distributed over the entire area and are nevertheless comprehended as a unit, not least due to the routing design and the arrangement of the building sections. Water is omnipresent and creates seamless transitions from one facility to the next. Water structures the overall site and converts the area into a mosaic of little islands – an archipelago of sport comprising four different sports centres. These include an elite and mass sports centre (rowing and kayak), athletes’ accommodation and training, public aquatic sports facilities and public indoor sports facilities.

Complex appearance Extending from north to south, a lively plateau rises up from the flat area on the eastern edge of the lake. As a grand, unifying gesture, it integrates all the main functions – competitive sports, accommodation and public aquatic facilities – into a single overall form. For recreational athletes, this overarching, horizontal strip creates a connection from the main entrance and car park in the north to the public water sports facilities in the south. It also separates the public from the

sports facilities, as the buildings for professional and amateur sport are located under the broad, green and partly balcony-like path, so athletes can train undisturbed by visitors, but at the same time remain visible for everyone.

Directly adjacent to the elite centre, an axis extends across the landscape plateau, connecting the two judges‘ buildings with the central competition and media centre, which is overlaid by a panorama hall on the platform.

The various facilities make a highly homogenous impression thanks to the reduced selection of materials – fair-faced concrete and wood. The façades of the buildings arrayed under the plateau use panels of polycarbonate, a material from boat building.

The white-water facility to the east of the plateau is designed as a canyon-like amphitheatre, giving visitors the best possible view of the competitions so they can follow them close to the action.

The stadium‘s pump system ensures a flow rate of up to 14 m³/s in the competition channel and up to 10 m³/s in the training channel. The rail-mounted obstacles can be repositioned to create different water flows, depending on requirements.