ODYSSÉE PLEYEL

Odyssée Pleyel
Project box

Geographical area: Europe

Location: Saint-Denis, Ile-de-France, France

City size: Small (between 50,000 and 250,000 inhabitants)

Promoter: Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE)

Developer: Électricité de France (EDF)

Start year:

End-year: In progress

Implementation phase: Planning and design

Project size: Building

Total area of intervention (in sqm): 3.840

Total investments (in USD): not publicly disclosed

Project overview

Odyssée Pleyel is a building-scale urban regeneration project located in Saint-Denis, in the northern periphery of the Grand Paris metropolitan area. The area has historically been characterised by heavy industry and is currently undergoing significant socio-spatial transformation, driven by large-scale urban redevelopment and major infrastructure investments, particularly those associated with the Grand Paris Express and the 2025 Olympic developments. Within this evolving context, Odyssée Pleyel is situated on the site of the former EDF (Électricité de France, a French state-owned electric utility company) “Hall de décuvage”, an early 20th-century industrial facility previously used for the maintenance and cleaning of electrical equipment. The site is owned by RTE (Réseau de Transport d’Électricité, the electricity transmission system operator of France), while the project is led by EDF in collaboration with a consortium of private partners. Within the framework of the competition, the property may be transferred to the selected developer. 

The project concerns not only the main industrial hall, a large, open-plan structure originally used for equipment maintenance, but also a small industrial ensemble composed of three contiguous reinforced-concrete buildings, arranged in a stepped configuration and complemented by a nearby foreman’s pavilion. The hall itself, covering approximately 1,400 m² and reaching a height of 24 metres, constitutes the dominant architectural and symbolic element of the site and has been described as a “monumental witness” of Saint-Denis’ industrial past.

The site is located within the Pleyel district, a heterogeneous area historically shaped by industrial and economic activities and now the focus of extensive urban redevelopment. In its immediate surroundings, this transformation is reflected in a series of major projects, including the Saint-Denis Pleyel station of the Grand Paris Express, as well as adjacent developments such as the Cité du Cinéma, mixed-use ZAC operations (combining offices, housing, and research facilities), and the former Olympic and Paralympic Village, currently being converted into a sustainable urban district.

The Odyssée Pleyel project consists of the adaptive reuse of the former industrial complex, transforming it into a zero-carbon, energy-positive hub dedicated to innovation, education, and public activities. The project was selected in 2019 as part of the international C40 Reinventing Cities competition, an initiative promoting the regeneration of underused urban sites through carbon-neutral and climate-resilient development strategies. Led by EDF in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of 34 partners, including architects Jakob+MacFarlane, the proposal aims to convert the former industrial facility combining architectural innovation with environmental performance.

Odyssée Pleyel is conceived as a mixed-use, publicly accessible hub. The rehabilitated hall is designed to host scientific workshops, innovation spaces for start-ups and industrial partners, and platforms for experimentation related to clean energy, climate change, and sustainable urban development. The project also includes spaces for exhibitions, conferences, and eco-responsible cultural and sporting events, as well as restaurant intended to foster interaction among diverse user groups.

At the core of the intervention is a zero-carbon retrofit strategy, based on the preservation of the existing industrial hall and its integration with new architectural additions. These include a modular timber extension, referred to as the “Energy Plug”, and a bioclimatic greenhouse equipped with photovoltaic systems. Together, these elements form an integrated energy infrastructure aimed at supporting on-site renewable energy production and enhancing the building’s operational self-sufficiency. The project incorporates a range of advanced environmental technologies, including hybrid photovoltaic and thermal solar panels, rainwater recovery systems, and energy storage solutions, with the objective of achieving high energy efficiency and carbon neutrality. 

With a total planned surface of approximately 3,840 m², Odyssée Pleyel functions as a demonstrator of low-carbon urban and architectural solutions, linking the industrial heritage of Saint-Denis with forward-looking models of energy transition and urban regeneration.

Odyssée Pleyel is a mixed-use building-scale project combining commercial, institutional, educational, innovation and productive functions within a former industrial structure. This hybrid configuration is further reinforced by the original composition of the site as a set of three contiguous buildings, whose complementarity enables the coexistence of multiple functions within a single intervention. The project includes office spaces dedicated to innovation activities and start-ups in the fields of energy and environmental transition, as well as exhibition and conference areas designed to host events, workshops, and public activities. Institutional and public functions are also central to the project, with spaces dedicated to educational programmes, scientific workshops, and partnerships with local schools. These uses position the building as a place for knowledge production, training, and public engagement. At the same time, the project further integrates commercial functions, notably through restaurants operated in connection with a social reintegration initiative. These functions generate revenue streams for the actors operating the project and its activities while supporting the economic viability of the project. The intervention also introduces elements of open space and recreational use, although within a building-scale configuration. In addition, the project integrates productive and ecological functions, particularly through the incorporation of vertical greenhouse systems used for urban agriculture and environmental experimentation. The transformation is consistent with the site’s classification under “UM” (urban mixed-use) zoning, which allows a wide range of urban functions while excluding harmful industrial activities, thereby supporting the transition from a mono-functional industrial site to a diversified urban programme.

Benefits

Odyssée Pleyel generates economic impacts through both direct, site-level activities and broader indirect effects linked to innovation and urban transformation.

At the site-level, the project activates a previously underutilized industrial asset by introducing a mixed-use building that combines workspaces, event and exhibition areas, and commercial functions, including restaurants and publicly accessible services. This configuration generates on-site employment across multiple sectors (research, cultural production, services, and hospitality) and supports the development of green-oriented economic activities. In addition, these uses produce recurring revenue streams for actors operating the project, including rental income, event-related revenues, and commercial turnover, which contribute to the local economy and generate fiscal returns for the municipality through business taxation.

The project is also conceived as an innovation-oriented hub that hosts startups, industrial partners, and NGOs working on clean energy, climate change, and sustainable urban development. This co-location enables research, prototyping, and entrepreneurial activities to coexist within the same space, supporting knowledge exchange and the development of new products and services in low-carbon sectors.

At the larger scale, the project contributes to the diversification of local economic activities and to the strengthening of innovation ecosystems within the Pleyel district. Its location within a rapidly transforming area enhances accessibility and increases the attractiveness of the district for firms and investors.Through these combined effects, Odyssée Pleyel supports the emergence of a localized, innovation-driven economic cluster, generating spillovers in terms of business creation, knowledge diffusion, and increased demand for local services, while reinforcing the economic repositioning of Saint-Denis toward low-carbon and knowledge-based activities.

The project places strong emphasis on environmental performance through the modernization and extension of a former 1930s industrial hall. Its environmental value begins with the adaptive reuse of an existing industrial building rather than demolition and replacement, which extends the life of the built asset and reduces the need for new material consumption. This circular logic is reinforced by the reuse of excavated soil from Grand Paris Express works in the construction process and by the modular timber structure of the “Energy Plug”, which is designed as a reversible and lightweight addition to the existing building. These strategies ensure resource efficiency and circularity throughout the construction process of Odyssée Pleyel.

The project also contributes to greenhouse-gas emission reduction through a package of low-carbon and renewable energy systems. The building is intended to produce its own energy and become carbon-neutral and energy self-sufficient. The building integrates hybrid solar panels, combining photovoltaic (electricity production) and thermal solar technologies (heat production), allowing it to generate its own energy needs. These systems are coupled with zinc-air batteries, which enable energy storage and improve the building’s capacity to operate autonomously by storing excess electricity produced during peak solar periods. This integrated system supports the project’s ambition of achieving energy self-sufficiency and carbon neutrality at the building scale.

The project incorporates climate adaptation and urban resilience dimensions, by incorporating passive and nature-based solutions. The vertical greenhouse system plays a dual role: it supports urban agriculture and food production, while also acting as a bioclimatic buffer, regulating temperature, improving insulation, and reducing heat gains. The project also incorporates rainwater recovery, which supports water management and environmental performance. Although the scale is that of a single building rather, these features show a clear attempt to integrate passive climate control, urban agriculture, and ecological design into the regeneration of a former industrial site. Together, these elements reduce the building’s energy demand while improving indoor environmental comfort.

Odyssée Pleyel is designed as an inclusive and multifunctional space, incorporating educational facilities, training programs, and community-oriented activities. The project aims to provide access to knowledge and innovation for local populations, particularly younger generations, while also hosting cultural, social, and recreational uses, contributing to capacity building, awareness-building and the diffusion of environmental knowledge at the local scale. A key component of the project is its educational outreach, including science workshops for young people, educational initiatives with local schools, which aim to support skill development related to emerging green sectors and contribute to long-term employability. 

The project also supports inclusion through the set up of a socially inclusive restaurant operated in collaboration with a social reintegration association, which provides employment and training opportunities for people facing barriers to the labour market, introducing a redistributive dimension to the project. 

The opening of the former industrial hall to public, cultural, and event-based uses contributes to the creation of a shared civic space, supporting everyday accessibility and the re-symbolization of the site as a collective resource. Its proximity to major metropolitan projects, including the transport hub of Grand Paris Express and Olympic developments, further enhances its accessibility and potential to reach a wider and more diverse population, reinforcing its role as an interface between local communities and metropolitan-scale transformations.

In 2026, no specific international certification (such as BREEAM, LEED, or WELL) has been formally confirmed. However, the project aligns with high environmental standards through its participation in the C40 Reinventing Cities program, which promotes zero-carbon and climate-resilient development.

Finance model

The project is primarily driven by private funding, led by EDF which acts as the main project developer and investor, alongside its consortium of development partners, which are responsible for financing the redevelopment and future operation of the site. The project is implemented within a public institutional framework, as it results from the C40 Reinventing Cities competition and is developed on land owned by RTE (Réseau de Transport d’Électricité), a public entity. Public actors do not directly finance the project but play a key enabling role by providing access to land, defining the project specifications, and participating in the selection and negotiation process. The project therefore reflects a configuration in which private investment is mobilized within a publicly coordinated regeneration framework.

Detailed financial structuring has not been fully disclosed. However, the project is expected to be primarily based on private investment mechanisms, led by EDF and its partners, which finance both the redevelopment of the existing structure and the implementation of innovative energy systems. The site is owned by RTE, but no information on the final legal arrangement governing land transfer or site occupation has been disclosed. The financing model is expected to rely mainly on equity investment mechanisms, with private actors assuming development risk and generating returns through the operation of the building. These revenues are linked to a mixed-use programme, including office spaces, event and exhibition areas, and commercial activities such as the restaurant and innovation spaces. Given the scale and nature of the project, it is also likely that debt financing supports upfront investment costs (capital expenditure), although this is not explicitly detailed in the project documentation.

References and Credits