The Island: the Group’s new flagship embodies our transformation

Incorporating the highest environmentally responsible standards, meeting the needs of our employees and being closer to consumers in the heart of Paris:  The Island, the Group’s new flagship,  now brings together all our Paris-based teams under one roof. It is a building designed to promote innovation, collaboration and performance, whose name is rooted in the history of the Group. It’s the ultimate expression of our vision « Créateurs de convivialité ».

Previously spread across seven sites,  the 900 employees of Pernod Ricard’s entities from in and around Paris are now together under one roof. More than a simple office relocation, it represents a new chapter for the Group.

A unique site

The Island is unique in many ways. Firstly, the building. By reflecting the ever‑changing colours of the sky, the 2,400 glass strips on the façade, designed by Studio Ferrier Marchetti, recall the impressionist paintings of Saint-Lazare station by Claude Monet. Rated ‘Excellent’ in High Environmental Quality and ‘Very Good’ in BREEAM International New Construction certifications for its design and energy performance,  the building has become the focal point for the Group’s international teams. Everything has been designed to facilitate informal meetings, collaboration and synergies to boost ideas and creativity. The result is a mix of ‘classic’ and ‘collaborative’ workspaces. Islanders sit wherever they want, choosing from 80 available meeting rooms and 2,400 workstations, depending on their activity or need. No more silos, the organisation and layout of space created by design agency Saguez & Partners promotes collaboration and performance in an open, transparent and informal setting: conviviality to boost performance.

“The Island is the result of internal engagement very early on in the project. All teams got involved in rethinking their future headquarters. Together we have designed and built this place so that it reflects our vision of ‘Créateurs de convivialité’,” says Olivier Cavil,  Group Communications Director.

With a lobby on each floor recreating our different brand experiences and the seventh floor Sky Bar with its breathtaking views over Paris, The Island is a flagship for our brands.

The Group has also chosen The Island to locate the new Pernod Ricard Foundation. Continuing the heritage of the Ricard Foundation, it will provide a multidisciplinary art space freely accessible to all, dedicated to up-and-coming artistic creation, along with a café and bookshop.

“The Island embodies the future Pernod Ricard, a company open to the world and which places its partners, consumers and employees at the heart of its strategy. This new flagship is the ultimate symbol of our Group’s transformation,” concludes Alexandre Ricard, Chairman and CEO.

A tribute to our roots

The Island owes its name to Les Embiez and Bendor, two islands off Toulon that became the Paul Ricard islands in the 1960s after their new owner. These Mediterranean islands offer a place of conviviality, somewhere to dream and reflect. Naturally it was here that the Institut Océanographique Paul Ricard was created in 1966 to fight against some of the first industrial pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. Now chaired by Patricia Ricard, granddaughter of the Group’s founder, it contributes more widely to the protection of marine environments through research and public awareness.

Creative, convivial, committed: The Island is both a reference to the Group’s roots, the continuity of a mindset and now a new Parisian address that pays tribute to our founder: cours Paul Ricard.

« What better  place than  an island  to dream? »

Paul Ricard