Are you familiar with the history behind Paris metro seats?

Between the metro’s beginnings and the 1950s, station furnishings were rather minimalistic, going by the rudimentary wooden benches that were installed at station platforms.

As the network expanded, and ridership continuously grew, the number of benches increased until they lined the length of platform side walls. Advertising panels were then often added above their backrests.

At the beginning of the 1950s, RATP took over a network that required upgrades. One of the solutions to renovate the original stations consisted of cladding platform walls with metal sheets that included illuminated 4m x 3m advertising panels.

Initial trials were launched to install wall cladding with built-in wooden or Formica bench seats, which were then standardised in the 1960s.

In “Mouton-Duvernet” style, which refers to the late-1960s platform renovation project, long, red Formica benches with moulded seat shells emphasised station platforms’ predominantly orange theme.

Motte-Andreu style

It was in the 1970s that platform seats underwent a transformation with the Motte-Andreu style. The recognisable shell seats marked the first time that individual seats were deployed across the network’s platforms.

Implemented from 1974 to 1984 in approximately one hundred stations, Motte-Andreu style reclaimed the predominantly white metro station decor of the past, contrasted with two brightly coloured furnishing components:

• The outer surface of light strip casings that highlight the arched ceiling,
• The tiled row of bench seats that hold the distinctive shell seats.

The concept was developed in such a way that passengers would subconsciously remember stations by associating them with their colours. For this purpose, Joseph-André Motte designed, exclusively for RATP, a seat that would go on to become a symbol of the Paris metro: the shell seat!

Design and colours

Stamped from thick metal sheets, with only one machine finishing process, these seats are particularly sturdy, and can be repainted an unlimited number of times.  They have a remarkable design, and offer cool, comfortable support.

Shell seats are produced in various colours that are specific to each station, with the aim of helping passengers to find their way more easily during their journeys. Three colours were initially represented: Motte blue, Kepler yellow, and Motte orange. Other colours were subsequently added to the palette: light blue, Louisiana green, Alsace green, Castille red, lilac, and Tyrian pink.

Number and layout of bench seats

The number and layout of Motte bench seats and seats depend on the length of the station platform (75 or 105 metres), and the number of exits, which can range from 20 to 100 seats per platform, arranged in front of posters in groups of 8 or 9. Deploying many seats in groups is an expression of hospitality and comfort, the core of what the design aims to achieve. In stations with a central platform that serves both directions, shell seats are installed back-to-back on the central bench seat.

An iconic outcome of the successful Motte-Andreu renovation project, shell seats have replaced most seats in other stations (notably stations with metal wall cladding, holding wooden bench seats that did not meet fire safety standards). 

Who were Paul Andreu and Joseph-André Motte?

Motte-Andreu style was the brainchild of two French architects:

• Paul Andreu, an architect specialising in airport buildings. These notably include Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, which he designed at the age of 29, ultimately becoming his claim to fame;
• Joseph-André Motte, designer and interior architect, who worked on major public commissions such as the interior development of Orly Airport, the Havre maritime port, and the decoration of the Cergy-Pontoise prefecture and Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport.

As of 1985, architecture firm Ouï-dire, which RATP selected following a competition, will go on to leave its legacy through the development of 27 stations across the network, in line with the white station theme.

The light, airy, and bright installation has two characteristics that make it stand out:

• Strip lighting suspended by scythe-like supports;
• Benches with individual seats that are separated by armrests resembling inverted scythes, alongside iconic leaning benches.

The major innovation as part of the Ouï-dire project is the leaning bench, which is an alternative to a conventional bench, as it caters to waiting passengers’ need for a brief reprieve.

In 1998, architect Bernard Kohn’s vision for the interior design of new metro line 14 stations proposed wooden seats with a more rustic appearance. Comprising slats mounted atop a steel tube structure, these seats are either in the form of individual spots, or leaning benches.

To find out more on Bernard Kohn’s distinctive architecture in stations on the line, read the history of metro line 14 here!

With the Renouveau du métro upgrading programme that started being implemented in 1997, wooden benches were installed at station platforms, as a nod to the wooden public benches found across Paris.

Architect Bruno Gaudin, who oversaw design in the Renouveau project, proposed these benches in a very elegant style that paired well with the advertising panels above them. These benches can be found at Saint-Ambroise station, and at several renovated station platforms.

In the 2000s, A Kiko seats, named after the design team that created them, made their entrance.

Broad and inviting, these circular seats fit snugly, with a cut-out in the centre resembling a smile. A Kiko seats are installed in sets of three to five eye-catching units, in a range of seven warm colours that take on a shinier and deeper hue when the seats are given an enamel finish (now replaced with a powder coating finish).

The use of these colours is regulated by a charter, which requires alternating between stations on the same line, and depending on the colours of borders and plinths in a given station.

These seats provide the same benefits as shell seats: they are low-maintenance, sturdy, and resistant to burns, scratches, graffiti, and mechanical interventions. Despite being deployed in most comprehensive station renovations, they have yet to dethrone any of their predecessors.

In stations that boast exceptional interiors, which are often associated with a cultural reference, original seating options have been specifically designed to create the atmosphere. 

This is precisely the case with the bonded laminated wooden seats at Arts et Métiers station (metro line 11), the dark granite benches at Cluny–La Sorbonne station (metro line 10), stadium bench seats at Villejuif–Léo Lagrange station (metro line 7), and the special wooden benches at Concorde station (metro line 12).

Now you know all there is to know about metro station seats! Can you identify the seats installed in your favourite station?