Plenitude Arena

Plenitude Arena sits in the La Défense business district. Racing 92 play here in the Top 14.

The main thing about the place is the roof. Underneath that roof the pitch is artificial turf, a synthetic surface that remains green through the winter and does not need the time to recover that a natural patch would. The stands go up in three tiers, and the seats are close enough that a shout travels without having to work for it. You can see the lights in the empty building from the street; on a match day they cut through the dark in straight lines.

For a long time it was known as Paris La Défense Arena, and before that as U Arena, but the name has changed more than the structure. The architect Christian de Portzamparc drew the plans, and the building has hosted everything from boxing to the Olympics. The tennis circuit comes through for the Rolex Paris Masters, and the basketball club Nanterre 92 play their Pro A home games here. The crowd has been known to go for the jugular in the winter months, and when the lights are switched off at the back the place feels smaller than it is on paper.

There is a large screen hanging over the pitch, and the entrance gates are numbered in a way that makes sense once you have been through them once. The address is 99 Jardins de l'Arche, and it is not hard to find if you follow the signs from the metro. The place has been here for a while, and while it is not old in architectural terms, it has lived through enough concerts to know the weight of a crowd.