Wearth Group | November 2025 | Bras de Grenelle natural pool, Paris
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Spisea imagines the Seine as a leisure space
In the heart of Paris, the Bras de Grenelle natural pool symbolizes the transformation of cities’ relationships with their rivers and lakes.
Delivered by the Wearth Group subsidiary Spisea, this project comes in the wake of the ambition born with the 2024 Paris Olympics: making the Seine into a shared, accessible space for leisure.
In addition to its exceptional setting a stone’s throw from the Eiffel Tower, the floating facility demonstrates that safety, durability, and fun in the water can all be combined in a dense urban environment.
An iconic project at the heart of Paris
Chosen by the City of Paris following a call for tenders, the Bras de Grenelle project is one of three urban bathing sites open in the French capital, along with Bercy and the Bras Marie.
The site has been designed with families in mind, and features large floating platforms serving as a sunbathing area, a main pool for confident swimmers, and a secure, enclosed, shallow pool for children.
The project took eight months of design and engineering works, and required custom solutions to meet challenges posed by river navigation, currents, and space at the heart of the river.
A project supported by our company Spisea
Expertise proven and tested in Canada
The Grenelle site demonstrates the expertise Wearth Group has gained through its natural pool projects, including in Ottawa, where its pool was opened in 2023. The Paris pool demonstrates even greater innovation:
· A modular structure of extruded aluminum and wood – long-lasting, corrosion-resistant, and made from local components;
· Designed without right angles or perforated sheet metal to prevent bathers becoming injured or caught;
· Submerged access ramps and areas designed for people with reduced mobility;
· No chemical treatment or heating to maintain water quality.
The pool is open under strictly controlled conditions to ensure users’ safety and compatibility with river navigation.
A sustainable alternative to urban pools
As well as its symbolic nature, the project paves the way for a new generation of public facilities: natural pools are twenty times cheaper to build than a land-based pool, are almost energy-neutral, and are fully reversible, with a design that allows them to be removed and reused each summer.
They serve as light infrastructure through which cities can adapt their river spaces to the impacts of climate change while restoring access to cooling community spaces.
Paris: a laboratory for communities of the future
For Spisea, the Grenelle site is another milestone in the transformation of urban and aquatic areas. By reconnecting residents to their river, the French capital is joining the European movement to reclaim waterways.
“Bathing at Grenelle embodies our vision of simple, durable, and inclusive solutions to bring city living and nature together,” said Quentin Bresson, Head of Institutional Relations at Wearth Group.
Opening up new horizons
After Ottawa and Paris, Wearth Group is now working with other cities as they consider developing their own natural pools and reclaiming their banks.
Find out more about natural pools and waterfront development solutions:
spi-sea.com