After several years of twists and turns, construction is finally expected to start on the site that will soon welcome Tour Saint-Gobain — also knowns as Tour M2 — to La Défense. Developed by the Italian insurer Generali in collaboration with Hines, the 39-storey tower comes after plans for the original Tour Generali — designed in 2006 to become the European Union's tallest building at a height of 265 metres — was abandoned in 2011. More recent delays were caused when Bouygues Construction, initially selected to build the tower at a cost of $170 million, was dismissed in favour of Vinci due to a disagreement regarding contract clauses.

Tour Saint-Gobain on the skyline of La Defense, image via Valode & Pistre Architects

Designed by French architecture firm Valode & Pistre Architects, the revised project now features a 178-metre tower with 48,600 square meters of office space, set to become Saint-Gobain's world headquarters. The project also includes a 400-square-metre showroom and 380 square metres of retail spaces at its base. Clad in transparent glass, the edifice will provide employees with a green space on every floor, including a larger sky garden situated at the top of the distinctive cantilevered marking the crown of the building. Thanks to high environmental performance, Tour Saint-Gobain is targeting LEED Platinum certification.

Preparatory work on the site of Tour Saint-Gobain, image by Forum contributor Vincent !

The latest photo update in the Forum thread dedicated to this project shows ongoing activity on the site, which is nestled between an elevated roadway and the Tour Iris office building. Completed in 1983, the eight-storey edifice will be demolished to make way for the new tower and an extended elevated forecourt, while the six-level underground parking garage visible in the photo above will be preserved and integrated into the scheme. Once reconfigured, the enlarged pedestrian space will directly connect to the neighbouring city of Courbevoie via a large flight of stairs and two elevators. Since most of La Défense is built on an elevated concrete pad, new projects must build their own pedestrian connections to ground level.

Tour Saint-Gobain seen from La Defense's pedestrian forecourt, image via Valode & Pistre Architects

Demolition work on the existing edifice is scheduled to start in April 2016, with the delivery date of the project currently scheduled for the third quarter of 2019. In the meantime, additional images and information about the project can be found in the Database file linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion or share your photos? Check out the associated Forum thread or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.