Oxygen

A new mixed-use area and numerous restaurants

Oxygen was born of a global reflection carried out by Paris La Défense for several years: to develop the spaces and volumes that were not exploited until now, located for the most part under the slab, to make them into new living spaces. Oxygen has taken over a place formerly known as the Belvedere, on which a few vines were planted, and under which several unoccupied spaces have been identified. The objective of Paris La Défense was to develop a human-sized urbanism that would allow the discovery of a little-known face of La Défense. And in this sense, Oxygen responds perfectly to this ambition to recreate links between all the users of the area, whether they are residents, employees, students or tourists, by offering them an unusual offer in a friendly and atypical setting.

This place will also breathe new life into the district architecturally by combining noble materials such as wood, bamboo and vegetation, in a break with the very present minerality of the district. The entire project is based on a strong commitment by the partners to sustainable development. It proposes light structure constructions and vegetation on the site, traceability of goods, organic products and optimised waste management.

This hybrid concept is the result of the rehabilitation of unexploited volumes, which have now been transformed into a new living space on the Belvedere site (gateway to the district). Supported by a group of investor-operators and designed by architect Stéphane Malka, this hybrid address restructures and revitalises the southern gateway to the district, overlooking Neuilly-sur-Seine and Paris, and embodies the renewal of the business district in terms of restaurants, entertainment and inspiring venues.

A new gastronomic address & exit from Greater Paris

Oxygen is a concept that combines quality fast food (organic, short circuit, seasonal), a high-end restaurant, events and afterwork offers (lunch and dinner, every day of the week) and a hybrid place for a working public, combining business, well-being and leisure services:

• Nodd, a festive event space of over 300 square metres that can evolve according to the programme, throughout the day and night: afterwork bar, clubbing evenings around electronic music, corporate and private events;
• Octopus, a modern brasserie and cocktail bar, the result of a collaboration between Liquid Corp (Moonshiner, Dirty Dick) and Groupe Rostang;
• Icône, a new concept dedicated to creative minds developed and designed by Avec Investissements;
• Two fast food brands: Bioburger - 100% organic fast food, Prairie - salad bar;
• The Marco Marco pizzeria, created by the Parisian restaurant Louie Louie;
• Café Coutume.

A strong architectural and urban gesture with a view of the Arc de Triomphe

Located at the foot of the Hôtel Mélia, the First and Allianz One towers, Oxgen is the gateway to the district with private planted areas, and a real pedestrian dimension designed from the Esplanade de La Défense exit to the Takis basin.

Below the private terraces, Paris La Défense has carried out the complete renewal of the pedestrian space at the bow of the business district. Users can now enjoy the panoramic view of Paris and the Arc de Triomphe, comfortably seated in wooden benches and in the middle of several islands planted with vegetation.

Designed by architect Stéphane Malka and Studio Malka Architecture et Paysage, the site is developed on the underside and surface of the La Défense slab. The buildings were prefabricated to simplify the difficult-to-access construction site and avoid on-site nuisances. The eco-responsible sun-break façade is made up of double slats of recycled bamboo; this thermal screen creates a kinetic effect from the expressway, the metro and the forecourt, where the interior is revealed and concealed according to the different viewpoints.

Oxygen plays on the contrasts of La Défense, and offers a great diversity of vegetation through its terraces open to all in a place with a dominant mineral character. Its wooded, dark and mysterious facades stand out in a landscape of clear steel and glass. The emergences of the project are six metres high, which makes it possible to return to a human scale in the midst of the gigantic skyscraper district.

Did you know ?

In 1990 Jean-Michel Jarre organised a concert event on the bow, at the site of the project. Thus, the Oxygen project is a tribute to the musician's major electronic album!