SPEED is a new experiment in progress at the Lagrange laboratory to study some critical aspects to succeed invery deep high-contrast imaging at close angular separations with the next generation of ELTs. The SPEEDbench will investigate optical, system, and algorithmic approaches to minimize the ELT primary mirrordiscontinuities and achieve the required contrast for targeting low mass exoplanets. The SPEED projectcombines high precision co-phasing architectures, wavefront control and shaping using two sequential high orderdeformable mirrors, and advanced coronagraphy (PIAACMC). In this paper, we describe the overall systemarchitecture and discuss some characteristics to reach 10-7 contrast at roughly 1λ/D.