Tour EDF
Encyclopedia
Tour EDF is an office skyscraper
located in La Défense
, the high-rise business district
west of Paris
, France
.
The tower was built for Électricité de France
(EDF), France's main electricity company, and hosts company's offices. Tour EDF is 165 m (541 ft) tall, the tallest skyscraper built in La Défense since the year 2000. Its ground shape is elliptical
, with a maximum length of 70 meters (230 feet) and a maximum width of 32 meters (105 feet).
Tour EDF's most striking characteristic consists in the extrusion
of a conic
section of the tower on its northern edge. The resulting conic hole extends from the ground floor to the 26th floor and serves as the main entrance to the tower, an entrance built under a wide circular canopy
24 meters (79 feet) in diameter
. As a consequence, the length of the tower is slightly shorter at its base than at its top.
The cladding of the tower alternates horizontal stripes of plain steel and tinted windows.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
located in La Défense
La Défense
La Défense is a major business district of the Paris aire urbaine. With a population of 20,000, it is centered in an orbital motorway straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux...
, the high-rise business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
west of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The tower was built for Électricité de France
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
(EDF), France's main electricity company, and hosts company's offices. Tour EDF is 165 m (541 ft) tall, the tallest skyscraper built in La Défense since the year 2000. Its ground shape is elliptical
Ellipse
In geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...
, with a maximum length of 70 meters (230 feet) and a maximum width of 32 meters (105 feet).
Tour EDF's most striking characteristic consists in the extrusion
Extrusion
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile. A material is pushed or drawn through a die of the desired cross-section...
of a conic
Cone (geometry)
A cone is an n-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a base to a point called the apex or vertex. Formally, it is the solid figure formed by the locus of all straight line segments that join the apex to the base...
section of the tower on its northern edge. The resulting conic hole extends from the ground floor to the 26th floor and serves as the main entrance to the tower, an entrance built under a wide circular canopy
Canopy (building)
A canopy is an overhead roof or else a structure over which a fabric or metal covering is attached, able to provide shade or shelter. A canopy can also be a tent, generally without a floor....
24 meters (79 feet) in diameter
Diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...
. As a consequence, the length of the tower is slightly shorter at its base than at its top.
The cladding of the tower alternates horizontal stripes of plain steel and tinted windows.