Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France and Exprimm, forming part of Opale-Défense ⁽¹⁾, have won a contract to finance, design and construct the French Ministry of Defence at Balard, in the southwest Paris, along with operation and maintenance of the complex for 30 years. Under the terms of the contract, Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France will coordinate the design and construction, for a total amount of €745 million (of which roughly €500 million for Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France). For Exprimm, the facilities management subsidiary of ETDE (the Energies & Services division of Bouygues Construction), the contract is worth €534 million. The finance for the operation is provided by a banking consortium comprising Natixis, Dexia, Société Générale, CIC and BBVA. 

The new ministry will accommodate the Minister of Defence and his special advisors, the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the offices of the Chiefs of Staff of the three armed forces, the French defence procurement agency and other military departments and administrative services. In all there will be roughly 9,300 people spread over a total surface area of 320,000 m². 

Designed by two firms of architects (Nicolas Michelin & Associés, who coordinated the overall architectural project, and Atelier 2/3/4) and the engineering consultant Iosis, the project comprises the construction of the main ministry building on the western part of the site (140,000 m²), along with a vast redevelopment operation for the eastern part (170,000 m², including 120,000 m² of refurbishment). 

Meanwhile, an additional 90,000 m² office development designed by Wilmotte & Associés will be built on land further to the west of the site for Axa Reim. This project will generate a further €206 million of additional works for Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France, and the site will be developed by Icade and Sodéarif. 

The project also includes three day nurseries open to the public, two restaurants each capable of serving 4,000 meals per day, two conference centres, a media centre dedicated to armed forces press conferences, a medical centre, a sports centre with a swimming pool open to the public, 1,300 parking spaces and 900 bedrooms providing accommodation for people working at the ministry. 

As consortium leader, Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France will be the guarantor of the entire design-build operation (building and systems). Exprimm will be responsible for operating and maintaining the buildings for 27 years from the date of handover. 

Works will begin in January 2012, and will involve 2,500 people at peak periods. Substantial technical resources will be employed, most notably 25 tower cranes. Almost all the buildings will be available by the end of August 2014. 

Yves Gabriel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bouygues Construction, said: "We are very proud of this prestigious contract, which illustrates Bouygues Construction's know-how in large-scale public-private partnerships in France and in numerous other countries. It also demonstrates our Group's strong commitment to sustainable construction." 

Bouygues Construction possesses extensive expertise in public-private partnerships. In particular, the Group is currently constructing the Sports Hub in Singapore, the world's largest sports PPP, as well as the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, France, and the Royal National Mounted Police headquarters in Surrey, Canada. The Group is also responsible for the facilities management of the British Home Office in London. 

  
(1) Opale-Défense consists of Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France (leader of the consortium and guarantor of the entire 
design- build operation, including buildings and systems), Thales Communication (design, installation and operation of information, communications and security systems), Sodexo France (operation of services, design and operation of restaurants), Dalkia France (design, installation and operation of energy solutions for the site) and Exprimm ( maintenance and renewal of facilities), alongside FIDEPPP and SEIEF (private finance partners) and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.