Tour Generali (English: ''Generali Tower'') was a
skyscraper planned for construction in the business quarter of
La Défense in
Courbevoie (
Hauts-de-Seine,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
). (Note that Generali also owns another prominent high-rise building on
Avenue Louise
The () or (Dutch) is a major thoroughfare in Brussels, Belgium. It is located in the southern part of the City of Brussels, on the border with the municipality of Ixelles, where it runs south–east from the to the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Ka ...
in Brussels, which is also known locally as the "Tour Generali".)
The project was officially initiated on 18 October 2006 and is being built for Italian insurance company
Assicurazioni Generali
Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. ( , ; meaning 'general insurances') or simply Generali Group is an Italian insurance company based in Trieste. As of 2019, it is the largest of its kind in Italy and among the top ten largest insurance companies in ...
. Part of the modernisation of La Défense, the project is being constructed by
Vinci on the old site of the Iris building, which was completed in 1983. Tour Generali would have an estimated height of 319 meters (1100 feet) from ground level, at a total cost estimate of 500 million euros.
The building would have had 400m² of PV cells, 800m² of solar panels and 18 axial wind turbines on site to produce energy. Other environmental initiatives being taken in the project include mixed-mode ventilation with night purging, use of thermal mass, district heating/cooling and multi-service
chilled beams (e.g. ventilation, cooling heating and lighting).
This building was to be constructed as a "
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...
" building, and would have include a wind turbines in its spire, solar panels, and other
environmentally friendly elements.
The main entrance of the tower would have been at the 6th level of the tower along the elevated
esplanade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
/
promenade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
, which rises 18 metres above ground level.
The Tour Generali had undergone a redesign and was shortened to 265m,
which meant it would have longer held the title of the
tallest building in the European Union. The project was cancelled in 2011.
See also
*
Skyscraper
*
La Défense
*
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 ...
References
External links
MaxFordham.com - Photos
{{Supertall proposed skyscrapers
Proposed buildings and structures in France
Generali
Proposed skyscrapers in France
Unbuilt skyscrapers