Saint-Denis Pleyel Station, in northern Paris, was designed by the Japanese architecture studio KKAA, led by architect Kengo Kuma. The facility, one of the largest and most significant new projects in the city its urban renewal after host of the 2024 Summer Olympics, with 35,000 square meters, is one of the largest stations on the Grand Paris Express.

Saint-Denis Pleyel station is part of the Grand Paris Express a new rapid transport system around the city's outskirts. The station handles 250,000 daily passengers and serves as an interchange between four metro lines: 14, 15, 16 and 17, also connects to an existing urban bridge, via which passengers can access using an urban bridge to the existing RER D transport lines.

Saint-Denis Station, designed by KKAA, is defined by its angular volumes wrapped with vertical wooden louvres, containing nine-floor levels. From the street, users go down through a series of stairs and ramps, that follow a spiral formation, that connects four underground that expands the Pleyel district urban public spaces in northern Paris, with the rest of The City of Light.

The use of wood extends to the inside creating a 30-meter-deep atrium covered with a glass roof to let the bottom levels get natural light. In the lower part, the planks are placed tightly together to form an opaque cladding to conceal technical services. The station includes complementary programs: with cultural and commercial spaces. (It will later boast a sculptural installation from the French artist Prune Nourry.)

A key final aspect of the project is its fireproof fir slat acoustic roof panels and the ingrained connection to the forthcoming Pleyel bridge designed by Marc Mimram, which is expected by the end of next of 2026.  

Saint-Denis Pleyel metro station by KKAA. Photography by Michel Denancé / KKAA

Saint-Denis Pleyel metro station by KKAA. Photography by Michel Denancé / KKAA.

Saint-Denis Pleyel metro station by KKAA. Photography by Michel Denancé / KKAA.  Estación de metro Saint-Denis Pleyel, de KKAA. Fotografía de Michel Denancé / KKAA.

Saint-Denis Pleyel metro station by KKAA. Photography by Michel Denancé / KKAA.

Project description by Kengo Kuma and Associates

The Grand Paris Express project began in 2007 in an attempt to relieve overcrowding and environmental degradation in the center of Paris with a new ring-shaped subway network. We designed the station building that will serve as the northern hub of the project.

The entire station was made into a park by creating greenspace on the rooftop and connecting it to the ground by a ramp, redefining the building not as a closed box but as a public space for the community. This multi-level park became a bridge over the railroad line, attempting to resolve the division of the community by the main railroad line from the north of France.

Saint-Denis Pleyel metro station by KKAA. Photography by Michel Denancé / KKAA.
Saint-Denis Pleyel metro station by KKAA. Photography by Michel Denancé / KKAA.

The “green station” is softly wrapped in a curtain wall made of oak, and the 30-meter-deep atrium that accesses the four metro lines is also entirely covered in wood, creating a soft and warm space that contrasts with the conventional stations made of concrete and steel. The rooftop garden reconnects the divided neighborhoods, and the wooden atrium reconnects the earth to the sky. In the atrium, 108 statues of Venus evoking the mother of the Earth by artist Prune Nourry are placed.

More information

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Architects
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Kengo Kuma and Associates (KKAA). Architect.- Kengo Kuma.

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Project team
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Aurélie Vernon, Amélie Fritzlar, Mariya Popova Bricard, Florence Festa, Manon Taillepierre, Marina Aristondo Gonzalez*, Rabiaa Sbai, Matthieu Wotling, Jordi Vinals, Michael Abric*, Romain Beal*, Bianca Sibilla, Nicolas Cazali, Veronica Bonanni*, Julia Hajnal*, David Chinea*.

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Collaborators
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Cooperation.- EGIS Grand Est.
MEP.- EGIS Grand Est.
Accumulation.- LTA.
Exterior.- AC&T.
Lighting design.- 8'18".
Landscape design.- AC&T Paysage
Acoustics.- PEUTZ & Associés
Sustainibility.- AIA Studio Environnement
Facade engineer.- RFR
Security and fire consultant.- VULCANE.

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Client
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Société du Grand Paris.

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Builder
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BESIX France.

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Area / Dimensions
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34,522 sqm. 250,000 passengers per day and interconnects lines 14, 15, 16 and 17.

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Dates
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Competition.- 2015
Construction.- 2020 - May 2024.
Opening.- June 24th 2024.

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Location
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Pleyel district, Saint-Denis, Paris, France.

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Budget
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€ 100,000,000.00

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Photography
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Kengo Kuma was born in Yokohama (Kanagawa, Japan) in 1954. He studied architecture at the University of Tokyo, finishing his degree in 1979. In 1987, he opened the "Spatial Design Studio". In 1990 he founded "Kengo Kuma & Associates" and extended the study to Europe (Paris, France) in 2008. Since 1985 and until 2009, has taught as a visiting professor and holder at the universities of Columbia, Keio, Illinois and Tokyo.

Notable projects include Japan National Stadium (2019), V&A Dundee (2019), Odunpazari Modern Art Museum (2019), and The Suntory Museum of Art (2007).

Kengo Kuma proposes architecture that opens up new relationships between nature, technology, and human beings. His major publications include Zen Shigoto(The complete works, Daiwa S hobo)Ten Sen Men (“point, line, plane”, IwanamiShoten), Makeru Kenchiku (Architecture of Defeat, Iwanami Shoten), Shizen na Kenchiku(Natural Architecture, Iwanami Shinsho), Chii sana Kenchiku (Small Architecture, IwanamiShinsho) and many others.

Main Awards:

· 2011 The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize for "Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum."
· 2010 Mainichi Art Award for “Nezu Museum.”
· 2009 "Decoration Officier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" (France).
· 2008 Energy Performance + Architecture Award (France). Bois Magazine International Wood Architecture Award (France).
· 2002 Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award (Finland).
· 2001 Togo Murano Award for “Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum.”
· 1997 Architectural Institute of Japan Award for “Noh Stage in the Forest”. First Place, AIA DuPONT Benedictus Award for “Water/Glass” (USA).

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Published on: November 10, 2024
Cite: "Kengo Kuma's Saint-Denis Pleyel metro station one more element of Paris's renewed future" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/kengo-kumas-saint-denis-pleyel-metro-station-one-more-element-pariss-renewed-future> ISSN 1139-6415
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