BESIX France: Saint-Denis - Pleyel station delivered and inaugurated on schedule

Paris (France) - 24 June 2024. The extension of metro line 14 and the Saint-Denis - Pleyel station were inaugurated by Emmanuel Macron on Monday 24 June 2024. The President of the Republic made the short journey from Mairie de Saint-Ouen station to the next stop and terminus at Saint-Denis - Pleyel. Arriving at the station, the President made the inauguration official; the station is now open to passengers.

Among the distinguished guests were the station's architect, Kengo Kuma, and Johan Beerlandt, Executive Vice-Chairman of BESIX Group Board of Directors.

Andres Peñaloza (BESIX), Mrs Beerlandt (BESIX), Starchitect Kengo Kuma, Mr Beerlandt (BESIX), Carlo Schreurs (BESIX)

BESIX successfully completed and handed over the Saint-Denis - Pleyel station to its owner, Société des grands projets, at the beginning of June 2024, following approval from the Safety and Accessibility Consultative Committee of the Seine-Saint-Denis Department.

BESIX’s scope of works

The €115 million contract BESIX France signed with Société des grands projets encompassed all architectural, facades and technical trade, as well as all external works on the esplanade of the station. The station covers a total area of 34,000 m² spread across nine levels, four of which are underground, extending down to 28 metres below ground.

Also included in the contract were all building trades of four service structures, to ensure passenger safety in case of emergencies, ventilation, and smoke extraction of the tunnels. An important challenge was also coordinating the logistics and the co-contractors’ work, including metro wagon systems and other systems related to the operation of the station (ticketing, passenger information, WiFi, and SSI systems, etc.).

A challenging deadline

The challenging deadline, being ready for the Olympic Games, also characterised this project. Construction work on the station began in mid-2020. BESIX’s involvement in the project started with no less than 10 months of coordination with both civil engineering works and tunnel equipment works (rails, catenary, etc.) already executed by the co-contractors. As the above ground structure was only completed end of August 2023, BESIX completed all the interior works, MEP installations and facade in a record time of ten months.

Andres Penaloza, Director BESIX France : “BESIX France is extremely proud to have built this major project within the great metropolitan region infrastructure. This underlines that BESIX has firm foundations and demonstrates our technical capacity in France, applying cutting-edge solutions to optimise the project in line with the client’s objectives. It is when faced with the most complex challenges, such as the construction of this station to a tight deadline, that BESIX demonstrates the greatest creativity and flexibility. Since the start, we have been striving to excel as engineers and to coordinate the many people involved in the project to ensure the station opens on time.”

Discover more about this project in BESIX’s Activity Report 2023.

President Macron, Mrs Beerlandt

Mr Beerlandt, President Macron

Mr Beerlandt, Mr Sarkozy

President Macron, Andres Peñaloza

Mrs Valérie Pécresse and BESIX colleagues

President Macron and BESIX colleagues