Famous Paris building to close for £356m revamp as city gears up for Olympic Games

Paris’s Centre Pompidou, the avant-garde museum and cultural center, originally designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers in 1971, is set to close for a £356m renovation.

The overhaul aims to update the one-million-square-foot building to meet 21st-century environmental and fire-security standards, reflecting its commitment to sustainability, in preparation for its 50th anniversary. 

The building will close in September 2025, after the 2024 Olympic Games, with plans to reopen in early 2030.

The cost of the technical upgrade - which will be covered by the French state - is £221 million, as £135 million in extra funding for cultural projects is still being sought. Centre Pompidou president Laurent Le Bon's predecessor, Serge Lasvignes, initiated the modernisation effort in 2018, launching a competitive consultation for the upgrade.

"We were asked to work on two scenarios: overhauling an occupied or an empty building," says Adrien Paporello of engineering and architecture firm AIA Life Designers, who won the bid in March 2021.

"For reasons of time, cost, and safety, closing the structure was the preferred option. Initially, the idea was simply to upgrade, with work scheduled to complete this year, just before the Olympic Games."

The renovation will significantly reduce the building’s energy consumption by 40 percent, involving the replacement of its glass envelope and heating and cooling systems.

Paporello noted that more efficient techniques will be introduced, and air will be treated according to each floor’s use. This adaptive system will make future program changes easier, while the entire building will also undergo rewiring and smoke-extraction system replacement to improve maintenance and safety.

Several key organisational changes are planned. The Bibliothèque Kandinsky will move to the Pavillon Brancusi, allowing the expansion of the Bibliothèque Publique d’Information (BPI). Major alterations will also be made to the ground and basement levels, with a new youth-oriented section and expanded visitor areas.

This reorganisation will add 71,000 square feet of publicly accessible space, including a new viewing platform on the roof.

The design team aims to enhance transparency, accessibility, and openness. Plans include visual connections with the outside on the northern and eastern sides, and opening the southern end to connect with surrounding sidewalks.

The monumental piazza will also be modified, adding stone bleachers and a wheelchair ramp.

Escobedo will focus on interior refurbishments, using metallic, reflective finishes to bring light into the building’s deep plan while preserving its distinctive color code.

Despite not being landmarked, the original architects have oversight on all changes due to French copyright laws.