Paris gives go-ahead for massive ‘Tour Triangle’ skyscraper

Latest update : 2015-06-30

Paris city council has approved the construction of a controversial tower block – the Tour Triangle – that will dominate the southern skyline of the French capital.

The project was rejected by the same body in November 2014 amid accusations that conservative councillors had voted against it merely to block the success of a project supported by Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo and her predecessor and mentor Bertrand Delanoë.

On Tuesday, the Tour Triangle was given the go-ahead after getting 87 votes for and 74 against.

The privately backed construction project, worth 500 million euros, is the brainchild of Swiss architectural agency Herzog & De Meuron, which designed the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic stadium in Beijing.

Shaped like a squashed pyramid, the 42-storey building will be 180 metres tall – the same height as the “Gherkin” in central London, but still less than half the height of New York’s Empire State Building.

It will contain a 120-room four-star hotel, 2,200m² of “co-working” office space and a cultural centre.

The construction has been opposed by residents of the 15th arrondissement who will have to live under its shadow, as well as Green (and other) politicians who say the design is not energy efficient and is not in balance with the Paris’s housing requirements.

Date created : 2015-06-30