The land on which the convention center is located is on the edge of the Plaine des Sablons and Sablonville; it was previously occupied by bastion No.

After the destruction of the Thiers wall fortifications around 1920, this wasteland was used for the installation of temporary summer amusement parks.

[1] From 1970, on the site of the old Luna Park, the convention centre and the Hotel Concorde Lafayette located next door, were built.

Works were by architects Guillaume Gillet, Serge Maloletenkov, Yves Betin and Henri Guibout, with the buildings inaugurated on 28 February 1974.

With its 32,000 m2, the convention centre has since 1999 four amphitheatres spread over four floors: The palace also has numerous conference rooms and a two-level shopping arcade.