Pradeau Morin, a subsidiary of Eiffage Construction, is to restore the Grand Palais. The work began in March 2021 and is in full swing. The aim of this renovation is to make the building safe and to bring it up to standard, but beyond that, the work is intended to rehabilitate the volumes, thereby increasing the building's capacity to accommodate visitors, without damaging the specific features of the original building.
In March 2021, after a century of hectic activity, the Grand Palais closed its doors to enter a major phase of renovation. This will last until the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games for the Nave and the surrounding galleries, and until spring 2025 for the rest of the building. The vagaries of time have made this restoration imperative: the monument was suffering from a general state of disrepair. 121 years after its creation, the Grand Palais is writing a new page in its history, and our Pradeau Morin Monuments Historiques teams are proud to be involved.
The work on which they are working concerns the restoration of the stone facades (over 1km long), masonry, de-leading and roofing. Our teams will work in particular on the creation of "fire pots", sculpted elements that decorate the façades. In the workshop, the stonemason creates the flushwork and the sculptor the decorations in Saint-Maximin limestone on different blocks which are assembled in situ to ensure the finishing touches. Brought to the construction site, these blocks are then crane-mounted to their final location where they are assembled together using a fibreglass rod. Of the ten or so fire pots to be made, five are already in place, the others will be installed in September.
But also, the "ashlar and masonry" lot, which consists of creating emergency exits, raising the masonry, accompanying the carpenters, as well as the paving work. The creation of emergency exits in the base walls is between 60cm and 1m deep (i.e. much larger than normal in terms of width), so it will be necessary to structurally modify the stonework in order to ensure that the load is taken up.
The challenges of this operation are manifold:
- The schedule is tight in view of an irrepressible deadline; the building must be ready to open for the 2024 Olympic Games;
- The work is being carried out on a top and bottom basis.
In addition, our teams are signatories to a "low-nuisance worksite" charter. This includes several criteria that contribute to the responsible management of the site:
- Waste management;
- Hazardous products;
- Staff training and information;
- Information for local residents;
- Noise;
- Potential site pollution (soil, water, air);
- Visual pollution;
- Traffic disruption;
- Resource consumption.
Congratulations to our teams for this prestigious and challenging project!
Client: Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais