Paris Heliport Reconfiguration

Project Overview

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Between 2024 and 2025, 1PAX was commissioned by Groupe ADP to lead the architectural design for the reconfiguration and expansion of the Paris Heliport at Issy-les-Moulineaux. Currently under construction, the project encompasses a mixed-use building integrating interior and exterior spaces, combining a traditional heliport, a next-generation vertiport for eVTOL operations, and a new helicopter hangar. Designed to accommodate up to 500,000 passengers annually, the project positions the heliport as a key node in Paris’s evolving urban air mobility ecosystem.

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Key Challenge

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The challenge was to modernize a highly constrained and operationally sensitive site while integrating emerging eVTOL infrastructure alongside existing helicopter operations. The project needed to reconcile diverse technical requirements, improve spatial flows, and elevate the passenger and user experience, all while meeting ambitious environmental standards and reinforcing the heliport’s identity within a dense urban context.

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Our Approach

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1PAX developed an architectural strategy focused on clarity, cohesion, and sustainability. Spatial layouts were reorganized to improve operational efficiency and passenger flows across heliport, vertiport, and hangar functions. A strong emphasis was placed on natural light, material quality, and user comfort. Wood was established as the central material of the project, used consistently across public spaces, façades, and the hangar itself. This choice brings warmth and human scale to an otherwise technical environment, while creating a unified architectural language that expresses the heliport’s renewed identity. The design integrates natural materials, optimized lighting, and environmental strategies aligned with HQE and BREEAM certification objectives.