More than 14,000 athletes at the Paris Athletes Village are now sleeping on recycled cardboard beds – one of the many initiatives introduced to meet the International Olympic Committee’s “New Norms.”
It comes as Wood Central reports that 45% of the Games Village has been constructed out of timber—many sandwiched by laminated veneer lumber floors and ceiling panels, with a large portion prefabricated and installed on-site, “the best construction methods to achieve an exceptional project in record time.”
Now, Inside the Games reports that the thousands of cardboard beds made by Japanese manufacturer Airweave have supplied 16,000 cardboard bed frames to the 2024 Games.
“We have designed these cardboard beds for three or four people jumping because after getting a medal, people get very happy,” said Motokuni Takaoka, the founder and president of Airweave, who first supplied the beds for the Tokyo Games.
Wood Central understands the standard bed size is 90 centimetres wide and 200cm long – but can also be extended up to 2.20m to cater for taller athletes, according to Mr Takaoka, who is now looking to supply beds for the Milan, Los Angeles and Brisbane games.
The beds are fully endorsed by Paris 2024 Games President Tony Estanguet, who said the beds are fully aligned with the Games sustainability aspirations: “We were impressed by Airweave’s technology,” said Estanguet in a report by French newspaper L’Équipe. “We know that we have a solid partner in terms of delivery.”
Forget Steel, Wood is the Story of the 2024 Games!
In March, Wood Central reported that organisers are turning to mass timber to repurpose and upcycle 95% of the game venues.
As the first games delivered in line with the IOC’s “greener agenda,” Mr Thobois said that 33 of 35 venues used in the games are already built and are being upcycled for the 2024 showpiece.
“A project of that magnitude is complicated and challenging,” Mr Thobois said. But we are conscious that this thing is a bit special. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience as an individual and once in a century as a country. And so we’re very excited—very excited indeed.”
- In Wood Central’s special feature, learn more about how the Paris Olympics are sparking a timber renaissance in French construction.
