General Information

Being 231 metres high and having 50 floors, the Tour First is currently the highest building not only in Paris, but also in entire France, as well as the 15th highest building in Europe. The modern structure composed of glass, steel and reinforced concrete serves as an office and has the floor area of over 87 thousand square metres.

Additional Information

The skyscraper was originally built in 1974 in the form of a three-pointed star, the branches of which were separated each by a 120° angle. This shape was chosen to symbolize the merger of the three French insurance companies that were at the origin of UAP. The tower was renamed Tour AXA when UAP was bought by the AXA insurance company in 1996. After the large-scale renovation between 2007 and 2011 the exterior of the building was completely changed with extra height added to the tower.

Architecture: Highlights

While the original tower was built entirely of reinforced concrete, the structure added during the renovation is composite: the new floors are made of steel and surround the vertically-extended concrete core.

Architecture: Explained

The 40-storey, 189-metre-high first structure was completed in 1974 and featured an aluminium façade and double-glazed windows, which contrasted with tones of bronze-colored stone.