Window

Window

Year of construction: 1982
Year of renovation: 2018
Architects: Roger Saubot, François Jullien, with Whitson Overcash
Renovation architects: KPF and SRA Architectes
Surface area: 45,000 sq.m.
Height: 47 m, 7 storeys above the shopping center
Former name: Élysées Défense

Address: 7C place du Dôme - 92800 Puteaux
Nearest car park: Westfield Les 4 Temps
Nearest public transport: La Défense (Grande Arche)

Élysées Défense was included in the master plan of the Tête Défense sector as early as 1972 by Émile Ailliaud, and is one of the most emblematic of the third generation. Originally planned as a hotel, the building eventually housed offices.

A veritable horizontal tower, it leans on the roof of the Quatre-Temps. An architecture that imposes a specific structure with differences in levels. Two covered atriums make it possible, despite the thickness of the building - 43 m - to light all the rooms in the tropical gardens, located in the middle of the building and serving as a thermal buffer. Widely used in the United States, the glazed atrium offers very generous lighting. It is particularly appreciated in museums, hotels and large public buildings.

In 1995, a change of ownership led to a renovation of the building. The west gable of the building, the main facade, has a light-coloured stone cladding that contrasts with the bluish tones of the curtain walls.

In March 2016, Window benefits from a restructuring project. The work includes 40,000 sq.m. of office space as well as catering areas.

The fully transparent façade has been designed to offer multiple views of the outside.

The building revisits the standards of office real estate: flexible, circulating, mixed, technological, adapted to new ways of working (from the most integrated to the most nomadic), offering spaces for conviviality (catering, services) and connected collaboration and conforming to the major international standards.

The project is based on a triple perspective:

  • reinventing tertiary real estate,
  • to offer a space of influence on the world to large French companies
  • help shape what La Défense will be like in 20 years.

The high terrace, with its shops and restaurant areas, is accessible to all, giving the impression of a balcony overlooking the city to create a new experience of La Défense.

A word about the architects

The Saubot agency was born from the association of Roger Saubot (1931-1999) with François Jullien in 1964. The two architects specialized in the construction of high-rise commercial buildings and collaborated with many international firms, most of them American. In 1985, they designed the Bouygues Construction head office in Guyancourt, in partnership with Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo.

Associated with the famous Skidmore, Owings and Merrill agency, they participated in 1964 in the Fiat Tower project (which became the Areva Tower in 1979). They then established themselves as the architects of La Défense and were involved in 11 projects, ensuring the transition to more energy-efficient and better-lit buildings (Total Coupole, France Télécom, Veritas offices, etc.). Roger Saubot and François Jullien then continued their career working for the Disney Festival at Eurodisney in 1992 and the American Center - now the Cinémathèque Française.

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