Paris, September 21, 2022 – Ivanhoé Cambridge, the global real estate firm, and Groupe BPCE today inaugurate the Tours DUO, designed by Jean Nouvel. The new headquarters of the cooperative banking group, The Tours DUO also house the TOO Hôtel, with a restaurant and bar featuring a panoramic view imagined and designed by designer Philippe Starck, set to open in the fall of 2022.
Developed by Ivanhoé Cambridge and co-financed by BPCE Assurances, the Tours DUO mark the 13th arrondissement of Paris with a major new architectural gesture and anchor a new skyline on the east side of the French capital. On the edge of the Seine, they form a true continuum between the cities of Paris and Ivry and create a new urban landmark for one of the major districts of Greater Paris. The project stands out for its mixed and complementary uses, functions and spaces, and for the careful attention paid to user wellness: characteristics in keeping with the evolving relationship between businesses and real estate, their employees and society overall.
The Tours DUO house the Groupe BPCE offices and include a wide range of spaces open to the public: an auditorium, stores, planted terraces and a green space open to all with a belvedere garden perched above the railway tracks.
The Tour DUO Ouest also features the TOO Hôtel, a 139-rooms, 4-star establishment located on the 10 uppermost levels, a restaurant and a “skybar” operated by Groupe Laurent Taïeb in association with Pascal Donat of the Valotel Group.
Nathalie Palladitcheff, President and CEO, Ivanhoé Cambridge, comments: “We are especially pleased and proud to inaugurate the Tours DUO alongside BPCE and Jean Nouvel, as well as all our partners. The successful completion of this emblematic and ambitious project relies on their talent and engagement and, of course, on the professionalism of all our teams. Started ten years ago, this project is now demonstrating its vision and relevance by integrating perfectly into its environment and offering flexible spaces adapted to new ways of working. At a time when our industry is undergoing profound changes, real estate must more than ever be at the service of occupants and users. The Tours DUO are a perfect example of this.”
Laurent Mignon, CEO, Groupe BPCE, adds: “When we decided to invest in the Tours BPCE in 2017 by becoming a 50% co-owner alongside Ivanhoé Cambridge, it signalled a genuine challenge and the beginning of a great adventure. Today these towers have become a reality and a new landmark of the Paris landscape. The Tours BPCE are both the Group’s new headquarters and the common home for our brands: Banque Populaire, Caisse d’Épargne, Natixis Investment Managers, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Banque Palatine, and Oney. They are the embodiment of an extensive program to transform our environments and our working methods that has considered the expectations of our employees. We harnessed the full potential of new technologies to realize gains in efficiency and workplace life quality, with a fully committed CSR approach (reductions in carbon emissions generated by our property management, mobility, digital technology, furnishings and procurements). This project marks a new chapter in the history of Groupe BPCE and is a clear sign of its confidence in the future.”
Jean Nouvel, architect, states: “The East side of Paris is the future, a new dawn, a promise… Eastern Paris is slowly coming into focus, building up and taking form, completing and modifying an unfinished context. This project is about building its summit, its culminating point for the beginning of the century. It is also about creating a character, a singularity that is in relation with the reality of the site, that reveals its particular beauty, that relies on it to invent and strengthen the attractiveness of the place.”
Yves Boulu-Gauthier, Deputy General Director, Functional Building Works, Île-de-France, VINCI Construction France, notes: “With this project, VINCI Construction confirms its expertise in execution of high-rise buildings and large-scale projects requiring leading-edge technical performance in Île-de-France. Construction of these two inclined towers, with multiple challenges and a constrained worksite, required inventive construction methods and procedures. The project was made possible thanks to the combined strengths of the various partners.”
Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, emphasizes: “The Tours Duo are a feat of contemporary architecture we can be proud of. I wish to applaud the talent of Jean Nouvel, who designed them with distinctive shapes and reflections that give them such life. Together with major university and residential buildings, Tours Duo embody the renewal of the Paris Rive Gauche district. They echo other daring projects such as the Tribunal de Grande Instance courthouse, on the other side of the ring road, and align perfectly with our vision of Greater Paris. They also embody the profound connections that we continue to forge every day with Ivry and the other cities surrounding us.”
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