Les Mercuriales are twin towers in
Bagnolet
Bagnolet () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.
History
On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, a small part of the commune o ...
, along the
Boulevard Peripherique, in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. They were built in 1975, and are named ''Levant'' (Eastern) and ''Ponant'' (Western).
Description
These towers were part of a larger project in the business district of eastern Paris, designed to rebalance the western district
La Defense
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
. This project was interrupted by the first oil crisis, leaving the isolated towers on the A3 motorway interchange.
Not counting the antennas, the towers are the third highest in the Seine-Saint-Denis
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
, behind
Tour Pleyel
Tour Pleyel is a skyscraper of mixed use, both residential and commercial, located in the ''commune'' of Saint-Denis in the suburbs of Paris, France.
Built in 1972, the tower is 129 metres tall. At the top is a large turning advertising sign, in ...
(143m) and behind the
Tour La Villette (125m). Including the antennas, the West Tower is the highest in Seine-Saint-Denis with a peak at about 175m, while the East Tower is the second highest at 141m.
Design and construction
* The architecture of the tower was inspired by the twin towers of the former
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
* The two towers are built on a foundation consisting of common equipment rooms and loading docks, accessible to heavy load trucks.
* Each tower consists of a reinforced concrete central core encompassing the elevators, freight elevators, escalators and vertical ducting. The central elevator core on each floor is protected by automatically closing fire doors. This core supports the floor slabs, supported by columns on the periphery.
* The columns are set back from the edge of the floor slabs to allow a continuous façade skin, stiffened with metal studs. The non-structural exterior curtain wall allows maximum natural lighting to the floors. It also reduces the visual mass of towers and provides a more fluid design, accentuated by their location in a residential area of low height.
* The partitioning of offices is completely modular and each floor can change from closed offices to full open plan.
* The elevator's batteries for each tower are distributed in two groups of six. Each group serves the first 16 levels or the next 15. Each battery also includes an outdoor loading dock that connects the basement to all floors.
* The 30th floor is the top floor of the offices.
LES MERCURIALES
/ref> The top two floors consist of local storage, the air conditioning systems and broadcasting equipment.
* A covered central mall distributes the public between the two towers and also serves the common services (canteen, security).
Antennas
At the top of the towers are two antennas. One is administered by TDF (TSF 89.9; Aligre FM / Radio Beur FM and country) and the other by TowerCast (FM Teen, Latina, Neo, Here & Now, FG, Generations / Paris Jazz Radio Libertaire Live FM Radio Campus Paris). It found a total of 10 issuers of 4 kW BY). These transmitters generate radio interference affecting 40 000 households.
See also
* Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
* List of tallest structures in Paris
The tallest structure in the City of Paris and the Île-de-France remains the Eiffel Tower in the 7th arrondissement, 300 meters high ''(or 330 m including the broadcasting antenna at its top)'', completed in 1889 as the gateway to the 1889 Pari ...
References
External links
Tour Mercuriale I
(''Emporis'')
Tour Mercuriale II
(''Emporis'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercuriales
Skyscraper office buildings in France
Twin towers
Office buildings completed in 1975