The former Coupole shopping center, located in the Coupole-Regnault district, is currently undergoing renovation. The Courbevoie district is a mixed-use area with housing, offices, and shops. It is this functional diversity that characterizes the district. Another unique feature is that half of it is built on a slab (housing iconic office buildings such as the Areva Tower and the Total Tower), and half is built at ground level, thus connecting it to the urban fabric of the city of Courbevoie. It is therefore a unique and strategic space, linking the business district with its urban environment.

Over the past few years, numerous projects have been developed in this area. These include mainly office projects such as the Trinity Tower and the Latitude building, as well as new transport infrastructure (the T2 tram extension, in service since 2012, and the RER E “Eole” extension, due to come into service in 2024, with a station located under Westfield CNIT). Public spaces have also been improved with the recent completion of Place Louise Pikovski at the foot of the Trinity Tower, the redevelopment of the Leclerc intersection, and the creation of the Olympe de Gouges forecourt at the foot of the Latitude building. Beneath the slab, another project has just been completed in the former Coupole shopping mall.

In the middle of this neighborhood, hidden beneath the Jean Millet slab and barely visible to local residents, lies an old shopping mall called La Coupole. Closed for several years because it no longer met safety standards, it has undergone cleaning and asbestos removal work over the past few months with a view to giving it a new lease of life.

Opened in the mid-1970s, the mall is located above three levels of parking, at the foot of the Areva, Total, and CB3 towers. Approximately 20,000 people frequented this place until it was closed for safety reasons in 2010. The presence of asbestos and the obsolescence of the fire detection system led to the closure of the mall so that the necessary work could be carried out. This work could not have been carried out safely while the mall remained open for business, as asbestos removal requires the entire area to be sealed off with waterproof tarpaulins to prevent the dispersion of fibers. In addition, a major land acquisition process had to be undertaken in order for Paris La Défense to become the sole owner of this shopping mall. This lengthy process (more than 10 years) enabled the establishment to begin work in 2022.

As part of its strategy to revitalize the space beneath the slab, Paris La Défense is conducting studies with BE Plateau Urbain to explore the possibility of attracting new occupants to revitalize the Coupole-Regnault district pending a comprehensive redevelopment project.

The schedule is as follows:

• Q2 2024: launch of a consultation to revitalize the Coupole center
• From 2025 onwards, and for several years, the Coupole center will be able to host various programs as part of a transitional management plan.

The next consultation will involve inviting operators to occupy the approximately 14,000 square meters of floor space represented by this former shopping mall, spread over two basement levels. The large volume and ceiling height (approximately 4.5 m) will allow for a wide variety of programming (leisure, sports, wellness, social and solidarity economy activities, etc.) and great modularity of the spaces under transitional management.

As the cleaning and asbestos removal work has removed a large part of the facilities that enabled this site to safely welcome the public, preliminary work will be necessary to restore the facilities so that the site can be classified as a public access building (ERP).

In 2020, 95% of the waste from this construction site (excluding asbestos) was recycled, representing more than 100 tons of recovered materials!

• 45 tons of scrap metal were reused in steelworks, steel mills, and foundries;
• 40 tons of inert demolition rubble were reused as fill;
• 19 tons of miscellaneous waste (wood, plastic, plaster, glass, paper, cardboard, etc.) were sent to sorting centers to be recycled in specific channels.