Cœur Défense is an office
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
in
La Défense
La Défense () is a major business district in France, located west of the city limits of Paris. It is part of the Paris metropolitan area in the Île-de-France region, located in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in the communes of Courbevoie, ...
, the high-rise
business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
west of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. With 350,000 m (3.77 million sq. ft), it is the building with the most floor space in Europe along with the
Palace of Parliament
The Palace of the Parliament ( ro, Palatul Parlamentului), also known as the Republic's House () or People's House/People's Palace (), is the seat of the Parliament of Romania, located atop Dealul Spirii in Bucharest, the national capital. The ...
in Bucharest.
Coeur Défense was built in 2001,
replacing the former
Esso Tower, the first building of the old generation to be destroyed in La Défense. Cœur Défense is a large complex made of two main bodies connected to one another by a smaller body and seating on a wide basis made of several smaller bodies. The edges of all bodies are rounded. The cladding is white, with large windows. An electronic system monitors white blinds which can be drawn or opened all together at the same time.
The two main bodies are tall each. Both of them are relatively thin as their width is only , and they are out of line with each other, so that sunlight can reach all parts of the building.
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...
' €2.1bn top-of-the-market purchase of Coeur Défense, was expected to become Europe's largest distressed property sale. Due to falling property values, and the
bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, was the climax of the subprime mortgage crisis. After the financial services firm was notified of a pending credit downgrade due to its heavy position in subprime mortgages, the Federal Re ...
, the transaction was under stress. The borrower who owns the building, Heart of La Défense, had placed itself under ''sauvegarde ''.
See also
*
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
*
La Défense
La Défense () is a major business district in France, located west of the city limits of Paris. It is part of the Paris metropolitan area in the Île-de-France region, located in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in the communes of Courbevoie, ...
*
List of tallest structures in Paris
The tallest structure in the City of Paris and the Île-de-France remains the Eiffel Tower in the 7th arrondissement, 300 meters high ''(or 330 m including the broadcasting antenna at its top)'', completed in 1889 as the gateway to the 1889 Pari ...
*
World's largest buildings
Buildings around the world listed by usable space (volume), footprint (area), and floor space (area) comprise single structures that are suitable for continuous human occupancy. There are, however, some exceptions, including factories and wareho ...
External links
Official websiteCœur Défense(Emporis)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cour Defense
Skyscraper office buildings in La Défense
Buildings and structures completed in 2001
21st-century architecture in France