A huge skylight. At the Metropolitan Inclusive and Sports Reference Center (Prisme), in Bobigny, in Seine-Saint-Denis, natural light is in the spotlight in this brand new 13,000 square meter structure, designed to accommodate all audiences, able-bodied or disabled, surrounded by ramps serving three different levels. In this complex, whose construction will be completed in early fall and which should open its doors in November, it will be possible to access two multi-sports fields, a climbing wall, a weapons room, a space dedicated to boccia, a balneotherapy pool and an area reserved for research and development of parasport.
“The Prism is a fairly unique structure in Europe, it is aimed at all types of disabilities, including mental disabilities”explains Noé Laurent, project manager at the departmental council. Quiet rooms are scattered throughout several areas of the complex and in the multi-sports areas, LEDs integrated into the fields will illuminate only the lines necessary for the activity in progress, in order to facilitate the practice for people with cognitive disorders. These developments are the result of suggestions collected during consultations with some 200 structures, clubs and associations consulted in the development of the project.
Under construction since October 2022, the building is one of the buildings linked to Paris’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. “The Games were an accelerator for the project”says Mr. Laurent, because the premises of the place date back to 2010.
“Priorities to local actors”
Originally scheduled for spring 2024, the opening of Prisme has been delayed due to “Bad weather at the beginning of the year which slowed down construction”explains Coline Hennebelle, operations manager at the departmental council’s buildings and logistics department. Representing an investment of 55.5 million euros, mainly supported by the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, the Ile-de-France region and the Greater Paris Metropolis, The building still hosted handball training during the Olympic fortnight.
It is a collective formed by the Union of Outdoor Sports Centers and the SOS Group that won the call for tenders for the operation of the site. It will rely on the work carried out upstream by the department, which identified the types of audiences to be welcomed: sports committees, schools, the general public and businesses, “with priority given to local actors”Mr. Laurent emphasizes.
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