possible moment to avoid a nightmare for the Parisian people ,” he says .
Other transport related complexities came with building major structures for the first time on sites that had subway trains running underneath . “ Much of Paris has a subway network underground , so we had to work closely with our engineering company and the subway operator to make sure there was no risk of collapse in the tunnels below ,” he says .
At Versailles , the many challenges included working within the limitations of the historic house and gardens . Having excavated a huge amount of soil to create grandstands , it meant restoring the site exactly to its original state .
As if that wasn ’ t enough , World War II explosives came into play . Says Rosenwald , “ Before we started , we had to have people with detectors check that we had no bombs from the Second World War , because apparently during World War II , the site saw some of the worst bombing .”
Another considerable challenge came with creating a purpose-built pontoon over Versailles ’ historic Grand Canal to enable horses to gallop across it without it moving .
“ We built a floating bridge that had to remain still even when a horse ran onto it as 60 kmph ,” says Rosenwald . “ It was a
The transformed La Défense Arena
Scott Jameson
Maxime Rosenwald
massive engineering challenge to ensure there was no movement that could scare the horses .”
Enter Arena As an official supporter of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games , Arena Group delivered infrastructure to no less than 90 Olympic venues across France ,
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including 40,000m2 of structures , 75,000 seats , more than 1,000 bungalows and some 25,000m2 of trackway .
Among the many complex projects carried out by Arena Group was the transformation of the La Defense Arena in Nanterre from an indoor rugby and concert venue into a key Olympic swimming facility housing two pools . Arena undertook the hugely complex task in less than seven weeks .
Arena worked in line with Paris 2024 ’ s sustainability commitment to organise the Olympic and Paralympic Games with 95 % of its temporary infrastructure being re-used . Among its many key projects was the design and delivery of bespoke TV studios at the Trocadero for broadcasters including the BBC .
Arena Group CEO Paul Berger says Paris 2024 was the largest overlay operation the company has ever taken on : “ London 2012 was big , but Paris 2024 was more than twice the size of what we delivered in London .
“ We have built some great events around the world , and we will continue to do that year in and year out , but what was so special about Paris was how our overlay teams , supported by our regional divisions , came together to deliver something that was incredibly complex .
“ We are so proud to have been able to deliver such a complex and technical project across the multiple venues , not least considering the logistical side as well . I think it is probably the standout project that we have done , globally , as a company .”
For Arena Group , the Paris 2024 journey started nearly two years before the opening ceremony lit up the Seine . With a year and a half to go it set up an office in Paris , at first it housed a team of a just few people but by the start of 2024 it had grown to nearly 100 .
Berger says , “ We deliberately made sure that our office in Paris was around the corner from the organising committee headquarters so that we could be with them on a regular basis . Our level of communication with them accessaa . co . uk 21