Laying of the foundation stone of the Tour Saint-Gobain

This project is managed and financed by its owner, the insurer Generali, who, assisted by Hines, tasked the VINCI group with carrying out this project.

The architectural, technical and environmental project for the new tower was designed by the Valode & Pistre agency, which was selected by Saint-Gobain and Generali, in consultation with EPADESA, following an international architectural consultation .

This project is in line with the strategy of EPADESA and Defacto and perfectly illustrates the attractiveness of Paris La Défense and its influence abroad.

The Tour Saint-Gobain, a major real estate operation for Generali in France

The construction of the Saint-Gobain Tower constitutes the most important “turnkey” project carried out in the Paris La Défense district for 10 years. In addition to its architectural and environmental ambitions, the construction of the Tower stands out, in fact, by the involvement of the future occupant of the premises from the start of the project in 2013. From a simple user, Saint-Gobain has changed since the international competition architecture in user / specifier of an emblematic project reinforcing the partnership which unites the teams of Generali and those of Saint-Gobain.

The Tour Saint-Gobain represents Generali's main real estate investment in France. Like the CityLife projects in Milan and FenCourt in London, it demonstrates Generali's desire to invest sustainably in Europe, and in particular in France, where its real estate asset management subsidiary Generali Real Estate has 100 employees. With 7 billion euros in real estate assets at the end of 2016, France is the Group's second largest real estate market after Italy. Symbolically, on this day of laying the foundation stone of the Saint-Gobain Tower, Generali celebrates the 2th anniversary of its establishment in France.

Why a new headquarters for Saint-Gobain?

Saint-Gobain's decision to leave the Tower of Mirrors where he settled in 1981 and to move into a new tower in Paris La Défense responds to a strategic ambition. World leader in the performance and construction materials market, the Group defines its brand promise through the concepts of comfort and respect for the environment to reinvent the home and improve daily life. Being well and feeling good wherever you are, at home and at the office, is essential - and it is at the heart of the Group's value proposition that this feeling of well-being comes from thermal or acoustic comfort, light or air quality. This notion of well-being is also a key parameter in thinking about the layout and decoration of the Saint-Gobain Tower, in order to create optimal working conditions and to promote new ways of working, in particular collaborative work.

The Group also aims for an exemplary level of environmental quality for its new headquarters to prove that individual comfort is compatible with sustainable development. The future tower should thus become, in the eyes of its employees and its customers, the emblem of the Saint-Gobain brand, an illustration of the Multi-Comfort concept and of an environment-friendly strategy.

The Group wanted to maintain its headquarters in Paris La Défense, which is the leading business district in Europe, home to the headquarters of many CAC 40 companies. The excellent connectivity of Paris La Défense thanks to the presence of a major hub public transportation was also a determining factor. The arrival of the RER (EOLE) by 2025, then of line 15 of the Grand Paris Express in 2027 will allow the Business District to strengthen the service both of Paris La Défense and of the new developing districts. The objective is to bring together the headquarters of most of the activities established in Ile-de-France, such as Placo, ISOVER and Point.P, in the new Tour Saint-Gobain which will be able to accommodate up to 2 employees.

The architectural, technical and environmental project

The new Saint-Gobain headquarters, a tower that sculpts light

The Saint-Gobain Tower was designed by Valode & Pistre as a crystalline architecture, symbolizing the historic trade of Saint-Gobain, glass. The Tower plays with light, which becomes its main material. Consisting of an assembly of "crystals", the play of faces, angles and the nature of glass alternately produces transparency or reflection. The objective is to give the building a magical dimension that changes with the hours and the place from which it is observed.

By choosing rhombohedra, polyhedra whose faces are diamonds or parallelograms instead of squares or rectangles, a dynamic is created. With the same height and the same volume as a usual right prism, the silhouette of the Tower soars, it becomes a sculpture. This movement, associated with the three-part composition of the Tower, a foot, a body, a head, transforms the building into a character who, seen from the square in front of Paris La Défense, leans forward as a sign of welcome and welcome.

Another device, the graphic play between horizontal bands, weft of floors on the facade, and obliques, parallel to the upper and lower faces of the rhombohedra, creates a rhythm, a vibration, a kind of music.

The observer is touched by the omnipresence of green spaces. Each work floor has a garden which employees can access directly. The prisms of the foot and the head of the Tower will house greenhouses with large trees.

The architectural and technical bias of this project is to demonstrate that the systematic search for quality in working conditions and an investigation of the most efficient energy and environmental solutions combine to serve as the basis for a new generation of towers where symbolic and aesthetic dimension is determined by its technique and its use.

An efficient, functional and flexible tower

The Tower was designed as a real working tool at the service of the company. It is organized in three parts: the main body where all the levels are dedicated to the work platforms, a lower part which will house the services like the premises open to the public, in particular the entrance hall and a showroom presenting the solutions and the new Saint-Gobain concepts, and the upper part which will host meeting rooms, meeting and reception places.

Taking advantage of its location on the edge of the slab, the Tower also contributes to urban sewing between the square in La Défense and the Circular boulevard. It therefore has main and pedestrian access from the forecourt and a second access at the boulevard level, which provides an address, taxi, VIP and bicycle access.

An environmental and energy efficient tower

The architecture of the Tower was designed around environmental concerns. A panoply of spatial, architectural and technical solutions contribute to the efficiency of the Tower in this area. But it is above all the installation of reversible radiant ceilings and a ventilation system by displacement of air at very low speed combined with the very high thermal performance of the facade which made it possible to reach very ambitious objectives. Rainwater is also collected for watering the gardens and the vegetation naturally contributes to the cooling of the greenhouses. The Tower is defined as a bioclimatic space.

The Tour Saint-Gobain also illustrates Generali's commitment to making its activities more responsible and its real estate portfolio is at the forefront of this effort. Many Generali buildings around the world, particularly in France, are labeled or benefit from internationally recognized certifications in terms of sustainable development, which attest to the integration of environmental standards.