The multifunctional complex "Hermitage Plaza" will reach a height of 323 meters. It will be located in the eastern part of the La Defense business district - Courbevoie and should serve the further development of this area on the banks of the Seine. Initially, its developer, Hermitage Group (a branch of the domestic company Stroymontazh), participated with this proposal a year ago in the competition for the Signal tower project, but then Jean Nouvel became the winner. The management of the Hermitage Group decided to implement their plan, but then he had creative differences with the then architect of the Hermitage Plaza, Jacques Ferrier, and at the end of 2008 he was replaced by Lord Foster, who completely redesigned the project. Foster also participated in the Signal Tower competition, but his project currently presented at MIPIM has nothing to do with his work.
Now these are two towers erected on a glass podium. Their widest edges at the base are facing each other and towards the new city square, but as the height increases, they narrow, and the main facades become - turned towards the panorama of Paris, so that the owners of the apartments located in the Hermitage Plaza - and this will be mostly residential complex - could admire the views of the city. The dynamic silhouettes of the towers are emphasized by the diagonal grid of the frame, which was already used by Foster in New York's "Hearst Tower", placed on the facades and allows significant savings in building materials. A new public space will be created around the towers - an esplanade descending to the river. A concert hall and an art gallery will open in the annexes to the podium of the towers, which should attract citizens to the complex and its surroundings.
In the first tower (91 floors) above the 4-tier lobby there will be a hotel (19 floors, 204 rooms, 5 stars), higher - tiers of restaurants and a spa center, the rest will be occupied by housing. In the second (93 floors), the lower part is used for offices, then there will be 2 tiers of the spa center, and apartments will be located higher. Between the two skyscrapers, closing the overall triangular composition of the plan, there will be a mid-rise building - an office complex with shops on the lower tiers.
Construction of the Hermitage Plaza should begin at the end of 2010 and be completed by the end of 2014.
