D2

D2

Year of construction: 2015
Architects: Anthony Béchu and Tom Sheehan
Surface area: 54,530 sq.m
Height: 175 m, 37 floors
Old name: Veritas Tower

Address : 17 bis place des Reflets - 92400 Courbevoie
Nearest car park: Reflets
Nearest public transport: Esplanade de La Défense

Completed in 2015, Tower D2 replaces the Veritas office building, erected in 1984. Atypical in form, it is one of the most emblematic achievements of the Franco-American duo Anthony Béchu and Tom Sheehan. Its ovoid appearance makes it an icon of a generation of buildings, of which the Agbar Tower in Barcelona, designed by the Ateliers Jean Nouvel, and the 30 St Mary Axe in London, signed by Norman Foster, are the icons. Its façade is covered with a metal mesh that contributes 50% of its stability.

D2 was the first high-rise building in France with a concrete core and an exotic steel load-bearing structure. Resolutely innovative and designed to optimize space, it offers a capacity of 4,200 workstations on 49,000 sq.m. of floor space.

The use of the latest green building technologies enables D2 to achieve excellent environmental performance validated by HQE and BREEAM certifications, BBC RT2005 labeling and compliance with RT2012.

In March 2015, the D2 tower received the prize in the "New Offices and Retail" category at the Archi Design Club Awards. In September 2015, it won the "Habitat and Environment" category of the "Trophées du Bien-Être" and in October 2015, it received the Eiffel Steel Architecture Trophy in the "Working" category as well as the Emporis Skyscraper Award (3rd place).

In the vicinity of the tower, public spaces that improve the link between the La Défense forecourt and the town centre of Courbevoie. The site on which D2 now stands was until then a real rift between the business district and the town of Courbevoie. Also, beyond the real estate project, the challenge was to create a link between these two spaces hitherto dissociated from each other by the Boulevard Circulaire.

The developer invested 35 M€ HT in the public spaces, i.e. :

  • the construction of two engineering structures (Corolles Square and Square D2) from scratch,
  • the complete modernisation of the Reflets public car park (1,000 parking spaces),
  • the creation of a local service specific to the tower,
  • the establishment of a direct link with the Place des Reflets on the one hand, and with the Place de l'Iris on the other hand, via the creation of a staircase and the installation of a double lift on the Alsace footbridge,
  • the re-branding of the Boulevard Circulaire as a more urban boulevard.

Paris La Défense carried out the development work at the same time as the tower. This concomitance of operations was made possible by the developer's implementation of site coordination measures ensuring rapid completion of the project (3 years) with a minimum of inconvenience and nuisance for local residents.

A word about the architects

The tandem Anthony Béchu and Tom Seehan was formed in 2007. Béchu took over the agency from his father in 1986 and developed it around urban planning and design, through equipment and housing. Among his main achievements, he leads with Gino Valle and Fernando Urquijo the renovation of the Edouard VII block in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.
Trained at the American School of Art in Fontainebleau and the University of Cincinnati, Tom Sheehan moved to Paris in 1989. He created his agency in 1997, after working for several years as a project manager in the agency of Michel Macary and Aymeric Zublena.
The duo only produced the D2 tower at La Défense.

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