Tour Sequoia, Office building in La Défense, France
Tour Sequoia is a 119-metre office tower in Puteaux, within the La Défense business district. Built in 1990, it has 33 floors and about 53,600 m² of lettable space. Its design combines a curved glass facade with a straight facade, a first for La Défense. The tower stands above the boulevard circulaire and the railway line, near the CNIT.
The structure was designed by architects Michel Andrault and Pierre Parat, opening in 1990 during a period of major expansion in the La Défense district. This was one of many modern towers built as the area grew into a major business center.
This tower demonstrates how office buildings were designed in 1990s France, with clean glass surfaces and straightforward geometric shapes. It sits within the district's modern landscape and contributes to the contemporary look of the business quarter.
The tower stands at Puteaux in La Défense, overlooking the boulevard circulaire and the railway line, close to the CNIT and the Grande Arche. It is an administrative building of the Ministry of Ecology, so access is not aimed at tourists. The 33 floors are served by lifts, with two parking levels.
The tower was first occupied by the computer company Bull, then from May 1996 by SFR, which renamed it Tour Esplanade. The public development authority EPAD objected to that name because of confusion with the Esplanade de la Défense metro station at the other end of the district. In 1998 SFR chose Séquoia, matching the tree name of the neighbouring Tour Cèdre.
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