Installed for four years on the Joffre plateau, on the axis of the Champ-de-Mars, in Paris’s 7th arrondissement, the ephemeral Grand Palais opened its doors in June 2021. It faces the Ecole Militaire with the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro as its sightline. This temporary building, designed by the Wilmotte & Associés architectural practice, sponsored by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais and Paris 2024, and managed by GL Events, is a descendant of the great structures of the Universal Exhibitions of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
During the renovation of the Grand Palais, it accommodates the art, fashion and sporting events usually hosted in the main hall, as well as the cultural and artistic events organised by RMN-Grand Palais. It will also be the setting for events at the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games: judo, wrestling, wheelchair rugby and para judo are on the programme. At the end of the four years of operation, the building will be dismantled and its components will be reused in new buildings.
Temporary but sustainable
The unique and iconic architecture of this ephemeral Grand Palais meets the requirements of contemporary eco-construction. The choice of a structure in timber that comes from sustainably managed forests, modular, quick to assemble (three months), but also capable of being dismantled and reused in different configurations, entailed precision prefabrication and assembly.
In addition to the structural components, the envelope components, and in particular the sandwich panels manufactured from steel sheet and stone wool, will be able to be reused. Some municipalities have already expressed their interest. The long-term future of the components appears to be assured. To be continued, therefore. The construction method was also designed to limit nuisance from the construction site, which lasted eight months in total.
Case studies
©Wilmotte & Associés Architectes
The system comprising sandwich panels made of sheet steel and stone wool from 100 to 150 millimetres thick, combined with a suspended plasterboard ceiling, damped by glass wool.
Project location
An Ephemeral Grand Palais
Paris
France