Tour First, Office skyscraper in La Défense, France.
Tour First is an office tower with 56 floors in the La Défense business district west of Paris, rising 231 meters above ground. The floor plan forms a three-pointed star, with arms extending at equal angles from the central core.
The tower opened in 1974 as Tour UAP and underwent comprehensive modernization between 2007 and 2011. After the work was completed, the building received its current name.
The three-pointed star plan, with arms at 120° from a central core, was chosen to symbolise the merger of the three French insurance companies that formed UAP. The tower was renamed Tour Axa in January 1998 after Axa absorbed UAP. Since 2017 the Kwerk coworking space has occupied two floors, including an 11-metre trompe-l'œil library on the 11th floor designed by Albert Angel.
The building has 28 elevators serving all floors, along with three basement levels. The total usable space of roughly 86,700 square meters (about 933,000 square feet) is dedicated to office use.
Architect Pierre Dufau designed the form with three arms that branch off from the core at 120-degree intervals. This arrangement creates a geometric pattern that appears different from various viewing angles.
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