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In order to remain attractive and competitive, the Paris financial district, which is the European Union's largest, has put a major renewal scheme in place. Conducted by EPADESA, the master plan aims to upgrade or rebuild La Defense's obsolete office and residential buildings while constructing an additional 300,000 square metres of office spaces and 1,400 new housing units within the neighbourhood between 2006 and 2019. At 296 metres, the ambitious Tour Phare was originally conceived by American architect Thom Mayne as France's tallest edifice and a symbol of the district's renewal.
Several years after it was revealed to the public, the iconic project is being replaced by a scaled down version comprising two shorter towers instead of one. Indeed, developer Unibail Rodamco recently announced that following multiple appeals form local resident associations and a disagreement with Puteaux's mayor regarding the demolition of a pedestrian bridge to allow for construction to proceed, the tower has undergone a major redesign by French architecture and urban planning firm Atelier Christian de Portzamparc.
Now known as Tours Sisters, the development consists of a pair of mixed-use towers rising approximately 200 and 100 metres above ground level. While the tallest edifice will house 95,000 square metres of office spaces, the shortest will include a 300-room, four-star hotel. The buildings will be connected by a skybridge floating 80 metres in the air, and feature a spa, theatre, restaurant, and rooftop garden. The cost of the Tours Sisters is estimated at €630 million, compared to €900million for the previous iteration of the project. The completion date for the bevelled pair of towers is now tentatively scheduled for 2021.
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.
