Engineering & Works

The Arena is not just another concert hall or indoor stadium, but a hybrid facility which adapts to the event that is organized. This ambitious, unique concept would never have seen the light without the imagination of Jacky Lorenzetti, founder of the French real estate corporation Foncia, and President of the French rugby team Racing 92.

Key Figures

• Two parallel 1250 KVA power generators permanently coupled to the ERDF network
• 620 backlit “scales” (panels which clad the upper part of the Arena)
• 266 LED projectors for the playground.
• Complete Wi-Fi coverage for 15 000 simultaneous connections
• Access controls for 320 doors
• 193 video-cameras
• 750 loud speakers
• BMS: 7 100 physical points
• 600 sanitaries
• 1 500 sprinkler heads
• 6 MW of cooling power, from a public network.
• Heating through a combination of cogeneration (with the power generators), the collective heating network, and the GrdF network (natural gas).
• Arena cooled using micro-perforated ducts. The AHUs deliver 720 000 m3/h (air change rate of 0.95 vol/h)
• 48 smoke extractors connected to 27 pressurized staircases

Europe’s Biggest Entertainment Facility

• Sporting events: 30 000-person capacity
• Concerts: 40 000–person capacity
• Total surface: 55 543m2

This impressive architectural complex meets high environmental requirements. The designers also wanted to create a totally new experience for the public. Each spectator can become part of the event thanks to an HD WiFi connection, digital interactive platforms, and a complete range of services available through an innovative app. The budget for this exceptional project is estimated at € 360 M.

The U- Arena represented a major challenge for the VINCI Group entities involved: VINCI Construction France as the General Contractor, and VINCI Energies for the complete MEPs that comprised an overarching project management team, and the BUs Santerne IDF, GTIE Tertiaire, Lefort Francheteau and Saga Tertiaire. The budget for VINCI Energies amounted to € 61.3 M.

What made this construction particularly challenging was the limited workspace under the roof, and the extremely tight deadlines once the roof had been installed (two months before the grand opening!). Not to mention the project’s “2-in-1” feature, as it included the construction of a 30 000 m2 office building.

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1. An extraordinary lighting system

For Santerne IDF’s team, the tough part was installing and calibrating the LED backlight strips that equipped the 620 “Scales”, in partnership with Ecce’lectro. Each of the 3 000 LED strip is individually controlled, leading to a host of lighting scenarios on the entire facade. This required long periods of nighttime calibration.

That’s without mentioning the playground lighting system, designed in collaboration with Philips – a first in France for an entertainment facility of this size – complete with 256 AMX-technology LED projectors.

2. Intricate low-voltage systems

One of the U-Arena’s main asset is to bring the latest digital technology to spectators. Of course, such a service, when used by thousands of visitors at the same time, requires an exceptional infrastructure. GTIE Tertiaire, in charge of the extra low voltage systems, installed around 400 WiFi antennas, and the various security systems (193 surveillance cameras, 320 access-controlled doors).

GTIE Tertiary also had to monitor a dual-purpose sound system that meets today’s security demands for speech intelligibility, and that complies with the acoustic specification: 700 speakers spread out over 5 levels (for interior zones), 20 clusters and 150 speakers (in the arena). Roll-out took two years of R&D for their sound technician experts. To this, we must also add the redundancy of servers to avoid system failure.

3. 752 000m3 to be totally renovated

The biggest entertainment facility in Europe had to be able to provide visitors with optimal comfort.

To reach this goal, Lefort Francheteau adapted its production methods by pre-fabricating all oversized equipment for easy installation in limited spaces gradually, timed to coincide with the roof’s completion. To perfectly adapt to the project’s various and multiple zones, Lefort Francheteau approached each zone like an independent construction site. A true accomplishment for the developers, on-hand during the Rolling Stones concert to ensure proper functioning of the facility.

4. Rain water for the synthetic lawns

Saga Tertiary had to scale all of the waste water pipes to make sure they were capable of handling large crowds of spectators visiting the bathrooms at the same time. A rain water recuperation system was installed on the roof and is used to water the synthetic turf before every game.

Source : VINCI Energies France Tertiaire IDF Letter