Foster and Partners’ Towering Hermatage Plaza in Paris Gets the Green Light

Western Europe’s tallest towers just got the green light for construction - and once complete, they will dramatically change the look of the Parisian cityscape. Designed by <a href="http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/465/Default.aspx">Foster+Partners</a>, <a href="http://www.hermitage.fr/en#/plaza/concept/introduction">Hermatage Plaza</a> will feature twin towers which rotate 90 degrees to a peak of 320 meters. They will be mixed-use, including apartments, a hotel, offices, and a shopping destination that will bring high-density living to the outskirts of the famous city that broke the mold of tall buildings with the Eiffel Tower.

The project will be placed right on the Seine River east of La Défense to revitalize the area.

The core design strategy is the twist in the building’s floor plate which allow for a public plaza between the two towers but turn to provide views of the city.

The scale of the project will allow for a fully realized <a href="http://inhabitat.com/interview-mvrdvs-anton-wubben-on-the-design-of-the-massive-tunnel-shaped-rotterdam-market-hall/">vertical town</a>, whose offering will be a magnet for the greater city but allow residences to have many of the services they need under one roof.

The towers will be built to a <a href="http://www.breeam.org/">BREEM</a> rating of ‘excellent’ using a host of advanced and common sense strategies which are now becoming a hallmark of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/norman-foster/">Norman Foster</a>’s buildings.

Features like the twist in the frame of the buildings allows for optimized exposure.

The windows tilt downward providing a self shading effect in summer.

They can also stategically open to provide natural cooling, which is virtually unheard of in tall building design.

Also typical of Foster+Partners work is a<a href="http://inhabitat.com/exclusive-pics-inside-hearst-tower-new-york-city%E2%80%99s-first-leed-gold-skyscraper/"> diagrid</a> or cross bracing of the structural framework which reduces the amount of steel needed.

Interestingly the exposed structure bracing echos the Eiffel Tower’s form follows function esthetic, which when completed in 1889 was panned by many as an eyesore. The <a href="http://inhabitat.com/norman-foster-unveils-twin-faceted-skyscrapers-for-paris/">Hermatage Plaza</a> is also the center of a heated conversation about how Paris is to grow but maintain its uniqueness, so the news that the project will be accepted may point to a city ready to, if not reluctantly, embrace the future.

Unparalleled views from the towers.