Total Coupole

The Total Dome Tower was originally intended to be the twin sister of the Areva Tower. It will be built almost 10 years later with a clear objective: to increase the amount of office space lit on the first day. To achieve this, the architects broke down the volumes. The ensemble is then distinguished by a so-called "organ-set" layout composed of polygonal tubular elements and different scales. The façade has a column-and-beam system enclosed by almost 53,000 m² of curtain wall.
The first day lighting of all the offices is provided by the arrangement of a few around the covered entrance halls, reducing energy losses in the process.
With this structure, the Coupole Total tower won the 1986 work space planning award.

A word about the architects

Established in Toronto in 1961, the agency founded by Peter J. Webb (1925-1995), Boris E. Zerafa (1933), René Menkès (1931) and Warwick H.G Housden (1931) made construction history by delivering the world's first tallest building in 1976: the CN telecommunications tower in Toronto (553m). Internationally renowned, the agency has completed numerous office buildings and bank headquarters. However, the Total Coupole tower is its only contribution to La Défense.

The Saubot agency was born from the association of Roger Saubot (1931-1999) with François Jullien in 1964. The two architects specialised in the construction of high-rise office buildings and collaborated with numerous 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.