The Grande Nef Lucien Belloni de l'Île-des-Vannes is located on the southern tip of L'Ile Saint-Denis, on a right-of-way belonging to the town of Saint-Ouen. This concrete building overlooking the Seine stands out for its size and the boldness of its typical 70s architecture, which evokes the hull of a ship or the mouth of a whale.
The town of Saint-Ouen, which was responsible for the sports complex project, purchased the 6ha of wooded land in 1955 from the Meunier chocolate company.
Listed as a historic monument in 2007, the building was inaugurated in 1971 and has hosted sports training and competitions, as well as major boxing galas and concerts (Queen, Pink Floyd and Bruce Springsteen).
The architects who designed the hall - Anatole Kopp, Lucien Metrich and Pierre Chazanoff - wanted to create a building that allowed democratic access to sport.
The history of the building is closely linked to that of the town, which was part of the "red belt" from the Liberation to 2014. The city's ambition in creating this major sports complex was to enable the people of Saint-Ouen to benefit from education and sport.
Many major sports clubs have close links with the site and the town, such as the Rowing Club, which has existed since 1853.
In 2005, the PCF town council of Saint-Ouen named the building "Lucien Belloni", a former Resistance fighter and Communist.
A series of floods led to the site's closure in 2018, leaving room for "urbex" explorers.
The Grande Nave is being refurbished for the 2024 Olympic Games to accommodate training for rhythmic gymnastics, athletics, para-athletics, triathlon, para-triathlon... Afters the Games, it will enable the people of Audon to practice their sport and host events, with a capacity of around 1,500 seats and 4,300 spectators in concert configuration.
The refurbishment project for this 5,000 m², 25 m-high building involved, among other things, waterproofing and insulation of the roof, while preserving its structure of tensioned steel cables topped by steel troughs that form the concrete arches. The concrete was restored by a small company specializing in old materials.
The Tony Parker Academy is due to move to Île-des-Vannes after the Olympic Games.
Getting there
