Located in the heart of the Plaine Saulnier, opposite the Stade de France, in which it is connected to by a footbridge spanning the A1 autoroute, it hosted the diving, water polo, and artistic swimming competitions.

[1] As early as 2000, Aubervilliers was solicited for a redevelopment project related to the Paris 2012 Olympic Games bid on the site of the Fort d'Aubervilliers.

In June 2016, the public interest group in charge of the Paris 2024 bid decided to locate the Olympic aquatic centre in Saint-Denis on a site then occupied by Engie's research centre, located west of the Stade de France, separated from it by the Avenue du Président-Wilson.

It was built on the site of the former research centre of Engie, in the Plaine Saint-Denis neighbourhood, west of the Stade de France.

The building was designed to be sustainable, including features like seats made of recycled plastic and shallower pools to limit the amount of energy needed for heating.