It will be part of the SAS Suède complex, which will consist of three high-rise buildings and one mid-rise building. In addition to Nouvel, Jean-Baptiste Pietri, C + T and Ateliers Lion took part in the design of the ensemble.
This large-scale project of the Constructa group of companies is part of the revitalization program of the port of Marseille, the aim of which is to strengthen its position as the most important cultural and economic center of the entire Mediterranean basin. The city has occupied this position since its foundation at the end of the 7th century BC. e.
Nouvel's skyscraper is somewhat reminiscent of his own project for the SunCal tower for Los Angeles: in both cases, the glass facades of the building are covered with a "three-dimensional lattice" of sun screens. But if in the California project the walls of a residential building should also cover the hanging gardens, then in the version for Provence - a 135-meter office building - the architect is more restrained. The recreation gardens of the Marseilles workers in the building will be located only on a special mezzanine floor and on the roof of the tower. The coloristic solution of the project visually gives it lightness: the upper part of the structure will be blue, matching the southern sky, the lower tiers will be white and reddish (like the limestone walls and copper roofs of the surrounding houses). The slender profile of the building is not only a "green" element (this will allow the use of natural ventilation in its premises), but also a forced measure: the skyscraper will grow on a narrow section between two overpasses.
