25 Feb 2019
GA Smart Building to erect multilevel Universal City in Paris
BY Andrew Manns
French property developer and construction firm GA Smart Building has been selected to build the Universal City, a 30,000 sq m mixed-use complex dedicated to disability athletics and wellness.
The nine-storey facility – first conceived by social activist and sportsman Ryadh Sallem for the citywide urban regeneration scheme "Reinventer Paris" (Reinventing Paris) – will rise on a vacant lot adjacent to the Porte de Pantin station in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.
Co-designed by architecture offices Baumschlager Eberle Architekten and INEDIT in collaboration with Handigo – a practice specialising in handicap accessibility – the Universal City will feature a 4,000 sq m recreational centre, a medical spa managed by healthcare company IPSO Santé, a 109-room hotel operated by Louvre Hotels, a fitness centre, a restaurant, and 55 wheelchair-accessible living studios.
All spaces will be connected by a series of indoor and outdoor ramps and walkways.
According to Baumschlager Eberle, the building will also "radiate dynamism" and play host to an "agrotherapic" garden created by Wagon Landscaping and Merci Raymond.
Speaking on the project, Sébastien Matty, chairman at GA Smart Building, said: "The Cité Universelle project is an emblem, a collective response to a very specific urban and human situation."
He continued: "It demonstrates our ability to design buildings differently – intelligent and sustainable buildings. We have a responsibility to build the city of tomorrow by proving that it is open to all, inclusive and responsive to everyone’s needs.
"This major and engaged project attests to our dedication to developing projects that have a positive impact. It is a new stage in the development of our Group."
Construction on the Universal City is expected to be completed in 2024.
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