Venue Focus AccorHotels Arena
INSIDE THE ACCORHOTELS ARENA Paris’ uber-famous multi-purpose Bercy Arena has recently been transformed into the more flexible, and state of the art, AccorHotels Arena, following a serious makeover which is reported to have cost around $160 million.
52 Headliner
Originally built in early 1981,
and affectionately known as ‘POPB’ (a derivation of Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy), the maximum seating capacity of the new-look AccorHotels Arena has been expanded to 20,300, making it the world’s fourth largest arena. And thanks to an Optocore and BroaMan digital fibre network in the facility, it’s spoilt silly with no less than 30 different available room configurations, making it as flexible as any venue, be it a major sporting event, or rock and roll show. And talking of rock and roll, we at Headliner have a soft spot for the old Bercy – one of the best shows we covered in 2015 was that of the great Lenny Kravitz (pictured at the venue top right), who donned our cover later that year. So the main design team for this multi-million makeover was led by architects, DVVD and engineers, Populous; and the new technical infrastructure was provided by ENGIE Ineo. The company responded successfully to an audio-visual delivery tender issued by project management company, Astell, under the direction of Patrice Buniazet. With the venue set to host nearly 130 events each
year, according to ENGIE Ineo project manager, Marie-Anne Jofret, it had to be ultra-adaptable in order to meet the requirements of organisers, promoters, and spectators alike. Only an agile network would allow the arena to be able to adapt to the multiple configurations required for all hosted events – and this is where Optocore and BroaMan came in. [Coronation] Streetwise Conversations with Optocore’s technical sales manager, Philippe Moreau, set the process in motion, and this was boosted by a trip to see the network in action on the set of our long-running British primetime TV soap, Coronation Street. Here, the technical consultants could see the unique, fully integrated transport solution in which all audio, video, and data signals could be distributed site-wide over fibre, from any of the studios or stages. “Not only could they see a working installation with the designated equipment, but we also studied an actual case, reviewing the implementation of solutions that we had not previously considered,” Ms. Jofret explains. It was ultimately about bringing greater