Information

The swimming and sports complex OMEGA is designed as an open, social, and sportive meeting point, compact and transparent, and intertwined with the landscape of the Plateau de Saclay. Since September 2024, OMEGA welcomes inhabitants of Gif-sur-Yvette (FR) together with students, researchers, and entrepreneurs from the prestigious technology campus Paris-Saclay.

Nature and water in balance
It is not the water in the swimming pools that drives the architecture of OMEGA, but the water in the ground, which here, in Haute-Chevreuse, has an extremely high level. Our first design intervention was therefore to lift the swimming pool complex. In order not to disturb the soil nature and the groundwater structure, the pools will not be excavated but will be placed on the plateau with the elevated building around it. The wide stairs and the cantilever above them form a welcoming gesture that emphasizes the entrance.
The volume is as compact as possible to give space to the landscape and to biodiversity. Included in the ecological structure are fields for sunbathing, games and sports and gardens with carefully chosen vegetation including an orchard that supplies the cafe with fruit. Pools in the gardens buffer rainwater, also from the green roofs, for reuse.

A pool with a view
In line with the architecture on the entire campus, OMEGA will have an abstract appearance. Swimming pools, wellness and fitness will meet in rectangular, connected volumes. The facade consists of a continuous strip of glass with anodized aluminum panels above, on which, under the influence of the seasons and the time of day, the surrounding trees play a game with color and shadow. Due to the transparent base, competitive sports and swimming lessons are visible from the street; in the pools, bathers have a view of the surrounding greenery from their slightly elevated position. The wellness facilities can be found in an enclosed garden in the heart of the complex.

About Campus Paris-Saclay
Campus Université Paris-Saclay is located just southwest of Paris. The tech campus is home to top Parisian universities and institutes and has been given the subtitle ‘innovation playground’. In this ‘Silicon Valley of France’ training and research strengthen start-ups and scale-ups and vice versa. The entanglement with living, eating, and drinking, shopping and sports make the campus a city in itself. The accessibility of the campus from the region and from Paris will be significantly improved with the arrival of the new Grand Paris Express Line.