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Built on and around a 36,000-square-metre elevated concrete pad, La Defense is one of the largest examples of its kind in the world. While the plan's original vision aimed to give more space to pedestrians and cyclists by relegating all transit infrastructure underneath, the grade separation between the actual ground level and the pad has created a major physical barrier accentuated by a lack of access points such as stairs and elevators. As a result the EPADESA, the organization responsible for the implementation of the district's renewal plan, is now encouraging every new development to contribute to solving this accessibility issue.
Above a busy stretch of Avenue de la Delegation Leclerc, at the point where the thoroughfare dives underneath the pad to connect the nearby city of Courbevoie with La Defense's underground facilities and further roadways, the Crochon Brullmann + Associés-designed Trinity Tower will soon fix one of these access issues. Developed by Unibail Rodamco, the building will be built on top of an extension of the current concrete pad. The plan will not only cover the avenue below and connect the Place Carpeaux and Place Henry Renault together, it will create two additional flights of stairs and one elevator shaft, as seen in the rendering above.
Preparatory work for the construction of the new pad is now unfolding, with the future elevator and the structure destined to support the mobile field offices being assembled. Following a community meeting in February 2016, it was announced that the pad would take approximately one year and a half to be built and will eventually add 3,500 square metres of new public spaces around the development. The construction of the 140-metre tower will follow immediately afterwards, and is planned to start during the second half of 2017. The 49,500 square metres of office spaces, including 500 square metres of retail, will be spread across 33 storeys. Each storey will take an average of four days to be formed.
Scheduled for completion by the second half of 2018, Trinity Tower will meet the standards for highly environmentally friendly buildings. In addition to the green spaces to be created around its base, suspended gardens situated every three floors will provide employees with needed outdoor spaces. 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.
