Signal Tower
Paris, France
EPAD
GROUPE FINANCIERE CENTURIA
BOUYGUES IMMOBILIER
Architect: WILMOTTE & ASSOCIES
HQE design office: BURO HAPPOLD LONDON
Structural engineer: BOLLINGER UND GROHMANN
Fluid engineer: HLPP CONSULT
Landscape designer: NEVEUX & ROUYER
Height: 284 m
Total surface area: 115,000 m²
Offices: 50,000 sq.m.
Residential: 10,500 m² (10,500 m²)
Hotel, tourist residences: 42,500 sq.m
Shops, equipment: 9,000 sq.m
Other: 3,000 sq.m.
2008
Design of an ecological tower at La Défense, including offices, housing, a hotel, a tourist residence, shops and facilities. Creation of a park at the foot of the tower.
High Environmental Quality tower
This tower project is part of the urban renewal of La Défense and the surrounding areas, by introducing a functional mix and the notion of proximity. The dominant approach is to free up as much space as possible at the foot of the tower, so that the architecture is not bypassed but passed through.
We wanted to create an ensemble that was both striking and airy. Striking in its shape and height, airy in its upward movement, transparency and lightness. At the same time, while paying careful attention to the building’s image, we placed great importance on its integration into the site, which is heavily influenced by traffic and pedestrian flows. The result is an open, fragmented architecture that respects and integrates these existing flows.
To give life to the building, we designed three independent entities resting on a common core. They give the impression of pillars that grow, spin towards the sky, seek each other out, meet and separate without ever losing sight of each other. The tower’s hourly rotation accentuates the idea of a “signal” in all directions.
