The project
Built for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Olympic Aquatics Center in Saint-Denis showcases Mathis’s ability to take on the most ambitious of challenges.
Mathis designed and installed a 90-meter-wide timber roof structure with no intermediary supports – a world first in timber engineering for a concave design. This achievement was made possible through meticulous material optimization and precision execution.
Beyond the technical feat, the result represents a new milestone in timber construction – combining performance and lightness, precision and durability, in a structure that has already become iconic.
Team spirit is essential to the success of any project. Collaboration is built on listening, respect, and the willingness to go beyond yourself, recognizing each person’s expertise, harmonizing it with your own, and pushing personal limits to meet those of others.
It was in this spirit that we collaborated on the design and construction of the Aquatics Centre and its link bridge in Saint-Denis, working hand in hand with all project stakeholders. To meet the innovative challenge of its timber structure, every team member had to excel: the architects VenhoevenCS and Ateliers 2/3/4/, the structural engineers Schlaich Bergermann Partner, and the construction companies Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France and Mathis.
Together, we refined the technical approach, feasibility, and execution of the timber structure, while ensuring a form and aesthetic that today create the site’s distinctive atmosphere and embody the spirit of the project.
© Jad Sylla
