Tour Eqho, Office skyscraper in La Défense, France
Tour Eqho is a 131-metre office skyscraper in La Défense, Courbevoie, built in 1988. Its main facade is a parallelepiped from which a semi-cylinder has been extruded, creating a concave curved central section; the outer sections are flat. The facade has no windows at the corners because load-bearing pillars stand there, stopping a few floors below the top of the extruded semi-cylinder. Two lift groups flank the curve, and the curved facade lights the horizontal circulation between them.
The building was constructed in 1988 under architect Jean Willerval's direction and initially served as IBM's French headquarters. The company relocated after 2010, and various corporate tenants have occupied the offices since then.
The tower was renamed Tour Eqho in 2011 by its owner Icade, dropping the name Tour Descartes. Real estate brokers reportedly call it "the urinal" because of the concave semi-cylinder on its main facade. Since April 2015 KPMG has leased 40,468 m², and about 260 Banque de France staff moved into floors 22 to 24 in April 2016.
The building serves as an office complex and is accessible to visitors or clients of resident companies, though access hours depend on individual tenants. The site offers parking and benefits from good public transportation connections as part of the La Défense business district.
Bloomberg News reported that real estate brokers nicknamed the tower "the urinal" because of its shape: a parallelepiped with a semi-cylinder extruded into the main facade. The concave curved face also lights the horizontal walkways linking the two lift groups.
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