Forget the cultural Paris of old. BETC s Les Magasins généraux is now open for business. Created and curated by founding residents, advertising agency BETC Paris Socially designed to enable the creation of culturally leading, innovative content of the future A community-oriented destination for international creative experimentation A leading force in the development of Pantin, the major forerunner of the new Greater Paris Paris, 15 September 2016. BETC, the award-winning advertising agency today announced the opening of its new Paris hub -- Les Magasins généraux. The 20,000m² former flour and grain warehouse is situated on the burgeoning cultural waterfront area of the Canal de l'ourcq in Pantin, where the countryside meets Paris. The ambition - to pioneer creative growth, production and innovation in the new, Greater Paris. Les Magasins généraux presents a diverse social ecosystem. The building houses BETC s 900 coworkers and 5,000m² of workspace for external projects and creative partners. BETC partnered with a team of talented workplace, design and architecture experts to create space and aesthetic to meet BETC's working needs, while giving Les Magasins généraux room to evolve with its inhabitants and the Pantin neighbourhood. Successful contemporary business happens where culture meets industry and entrepreneurism. Our ambition is for Les Magasins généraux to facilitate connection between varied industries to enable experimentation and serendipitous collaborations to develop and grow, says Founder and Chairman Rémi Babinet. Gather strong people. Produce great work. Create cool brands. Founded in 1994 by Rémi Babinet, Mercedes Erra and Eric Tong Cuong, BETC is one of Europe s leading advertising agencies, making its name by creating iconic campaigns for the likes of evian, Canal+, Air France, Peugeot and Lacoste. The agency, which also has hubs in Sao Paulo and London, has long been a champion and creator of content that is embraced culturally and goes beyond advertising. Les Magasins généraux offers the
collaborative space to produce the rich, pioneering work of the future. BETC is revitalising urban space and designing forward-thinking ways to collaborate and work in order to reinvent the global advertising agency. The agency has incorporated fashion, art, publishing and music since its inception, most recently launching record label POP Records with Universal, and signing the first artist, Postaal. BETC s creativity has flourished at the crossroads of culture and business. At Les Magasins généraux, historically rich architecture sets the stage for the trailblazing work of the future, says Babinet. Socially designed to enable new forms of creative collaboration We don't stop living when we go to work. Cities are living and connected. City-dwellers experience emotion, energy, freedom and the unexpected. It s important that they make spaces their own, says Babinet. Les Magasins généraux s structure allows its creative inhabitants to do the same - live with the freedom to create. Over 1,800m² of space is exclusively dedicated to the production of film, music, design, radio and digital, in an area called The Garage. This creative factory will be home to musicians, directors, artists, producers and others who will turn the space into a thriving hive of production. Rémi Babinet and BETC Art Director Aurélie Scalabre collaborated with Parisbased design firm T&P Work UNit and 12 BETC-selected teams of designers and architects for the interior planning and artistic direction of Les Magasins généraux. T&P Work UNit was a natural fit as the founders worked on the art direction of the agency s previous offices. Individual workspaces are intelligently thought out to fit the varied everyday needs of the building s inhabitants and encourage collaboration. T&P Work UNit Co-founders Catherine Geel and Sophie Breuil chose up-and-coming designers to create entirely bespoke, purposedriven furniture to allow for new ways of working. Our design approach favours function first and foremost. From the multi-use tables to the electrical outlets, our design partners have thought through every detail to further Les Magasins généraux s mission and enable the production of leading work. Our goal was to create space to create, state Geel and Breuil. The agency s cafe and restaurant sit with the extensive media library, where inhabitants can eat, work, chat and read. The chef serves fresh, organic dishes in both the 1,000m² La Cantine and day-to-night cafe Kartz, and is complimented by weekly chefs-in-residence who introduce new menus. La Cantine s communal tables and family-style meals further allow for serendipitous encounters and collaboration.
Les Magasins généraux also boasts impressive outdoor space, with terraces overlooking the canal, and a lush rooftop garden. Nature inspires much of the infrastructure -- facilities are installed for bats, birds and the famous BETC bees. A new cultural destination for a local and global audience, curated by BETC Paris Babinet and Erra champion a new methodology of forward-thinking urban engineering that fuses culture and industry to create the agency of the future. BETC selected multi-award-winning architect and previous partner Frédéric Jung to lead the renewal of Les Magasins généraux. The 1930s engineers building - its industrial architecture, 1.4 kilometres of passageways across east and west wings and towering pillars - have all been preserved, to respect its industrial past and inspire the work that is created here. Les Magasins généraux will expand on the cultural and artisanal offerings of neighbouring institutions such as the Thaddaeus Ropac art gallery, the Centre National de la Danse (National Dance Centre), Banlieues Bleues Jazz Festival, Gallia brewery, fabrication lab Arts Codés, and the production and development centres of businesses like Hermès and Chanel, with its own cultural programme open to the public. Launching in January 2017 and curated by BETC, the programme will feature a true Magasins généraux experience of art, music, food and drink, tech, dance, innovation and culture from all over the world. Vice President/Creative Director Vincent Malone created BETC s web radio station Le Poste général. Programming fuses culture and everyday life, reimagining traditional agency-owned content, with offbeat stories and regular input from the public broadcasted directly from the ground floor of the building. Growing with the local community of Pantin BETC worked closely with the Pantin city council to ensure that the redevelopment actively contributes to the vibrant local community. Pantin s mayor supports BETC s active effort to conserve the building and honour its history. The agency s new homebase in Pantin encourages fresh ways of creative thinking and innovation, which the inventive, communal spirit of Greater Paris fosters. The ground floor is completely open to the public, featuring creative event space La Grande Salle, organic food hall Le Pantin and Les Docks de la Bellevilloise live music venue and
restaurant. Neighbours can have a drink, share a meal, shop, stroll, attend a workshop or exhibition, relax in the outdoor spaces and see live music. The public spaces are thought out so visitors can spend a day or evening on the grounds, experiencing events from the cultural programme. An innovation platform for talent and brands Babinet concludes, We had to move out of the traditional Parisian centre to the vibrant suburbs to find the dynamic energy of a true world city, like New York, London or Shanghai. Les Magasins généraux is the culmination of BETC's ambition and advertising's potential as the cultural leader for creative, innovative content and communications. Les Magasins généraux officially opens its doors on Thursday, September 15. For more information, visit the Magasins généraux website. - ENDS - About BETC Created in Paris in 1994, and still run by founders Rémi Babinet and Mercedes Erra, BETC is one of the most award-winning agencies in the world and the largest agency in France, with clients such as Canal+, evian, Peugeot, Louis Vuitton, L Oreal, Lacoste and Air France. BETC believes in the power of creativity to drive business results. BETC s work has always stood out by its contemporary style, creative freshness and craftsmanship. It is a global agency with a unique vision for brands that goes beyond traditional advertising to include design, architecture, art, music and fashion. In May 2016, Forbes Magazine selected Rémi Babinet one of the world s 10 Best Creative Directors. BETC s TV commercial The Bear for Canal+ was named the world s most awarded TVC ever by the Gunn Report and BETC is one of 8 agencies (and the only French one) to be in the agency ranking of the Gunn Report 13 years in a row. BETC opened the BETC London office in 2011, and the BETC Sao Paulo office in 2014. www.betc.com For more information regarding BETC, please contact: Hannah McDonald Tel.: +31 65 711 9957 Email: hannah@hooton.co Katherine Brooks Tel.: +31 61 524 1833 Email: katherine@hooton.co