Discover the project that invents a future life under La Défense!

At the end of the competitive dialogue bringing together 5 international architectural groups, Paris La Défense selected the project of the Belgian agency Baukunst. Its challenge: to transform 20,000 sq.m. of under-slab spaces into living spaces.

The enhancement of the business district's sub-district volumes is the last project that Patrick Devedjian was to unveil before his death. The idea of the President of Paris La Défense: to give life to the thousands of square metres that lie dormant under the slab, in the heart of the Esplanade.
In a virtuous and sustainable approach, the project aims to make use of previously inaccessible places, improve the soft links within the district, develop the animation of the territory and thus participate in its metropolitan influence. Today, the establishment is continuing this work with the support of the Belgian architectural firm Baukunst.

The imagined scenario is supported by a global vision. Eventually, an underground walkway will link the Place Basse to the mobility hub Cœur Transport, lined with a multitude of spaces with varied uses.

But the project will also have some impact on the surface, with the creation of "emergences" in several strategic locations: the Westfield-Les Quatre Temps shopping centre, Place de La Défense, the Agam Fountain and the Sculptors' Lane.

A spectacular breakthrough to let natural light penetrate underground, a ring to plunge towards an underground plant walk or a new view of the mythical Moretti Monster.... This is just a glimpse of the developments that will link the "above" and the "below". Yet there is nothing excessive about the project. One of its strong points: the exploitation and enhancement of the existing infrastructure. We are convinced that it is necessary to intervene in a way that is both strong and as close as possible to what already exists," explains the Baukunst agency. In the underground, we will operate radically, but in a precise and measured way. "In the same spirit, the agency imagines a gradual evolution of uses along the underground walkway. Initially, leisure or cultural facilities will be used to initiate its potential. A pilot project that could lead to the installation of sports facilities, shops and services.

Follow the ring !

The ring is one of the projects that will link the slab to the new underground spaces. Overlooking the Agam fountain, this circular footbridge could become a new emblem of the business district, both symbolically and practically, since it will provide access to the future underground walkway.