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Tour Bretagne (''Brittany Tower'' in English) opened on November 18, 1976 at 17:00, is a 37-story Tour Bretagne
/ref> it dominates the skyline of the city of Nantes and is the third tallest building in
The tower stands on an old area in the center of the city called "Le Marchix". This old medieval quarter had been considered dirty and dangerous long before the 1943 American bombing which considerably damaged it.
During the post-war redevelopment, the construction of two important modernist buildings along Place de Bretagne, housing the Treasury General, the Social Security building and the main post office inspired officials to build a skyscraper nearby. Tour Bretagne was meant to represent the economic power of the city and to display it to the world.
In 1966, with the encouragement of the people of Nantes, a group called SELA (Société d'Equipement de Loire Atlantique) was put in charge of developing the project. SELA asked Claude Devorsine, a forgotten architect today, and Marcel André, an engineering advisor, to bring the project to reality. In 1968, the plan was to construct a six story parking garage at the base of the tower, completed with a gas station, which the cars could access via an exterior ramp. The next three levels were to be a shopping mall with space for 25 boutiques and a restaurant. The offices would occupy the rest of floors except for the top floor, which would house a restaurant that would give panoramic views of the surrounding area.
The work began on September 30, 1971 and was to be finished by summer 1974. However, the construction is protracted by a number of delays, mainly due to an unforeseen number of changes to the plans during construction. Finally, after five years of work, the tower was opened in 1976.
Once completed, the tower was a failure. Ten years had been necessary to plan and build it and mentalities had changed since the 1960s. The building was then seen as a symbol of an inhuman urbanism focused on profit and as an architectural error distorting the traditional cityscape.
It was an economic failure as well, remaining mostly empty for a long time, in part due to the high rent. The restaurant on the 29th floor was soon closed due to technical problems and free visits to the observation deck were stopped after frequent suicides. Furthermore, no businesses opened at the base of the tower as had been initially envisioned. To utilize the of office space, the city government decided to move a part of its administrative offices to the tower.
The tower, which measures , has eight elevators, seven escalators and a water tank on the roof that can hold . Due to change in plans, the building now has seven levels of parking, three "ground floors", a "level zero" (which is situated above street level) and 29 floors of offices topped by a few floors containing machinery. The Tax Bureau, Nantes Metrocenter, and the offices of the city Employment Bureau occupy three-quarters of the buildings floorspace. Nearly 800 people work in the tower each day. The tower is managed by a group of co-owners composed of mainly banks but also the city government.
File:Tour Bretagne (2).jpg,
File:Tour Bretagne Nantes observation deck.JPG, Observation deck
Pictures and history of the tower
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bretagne Buildings and structures in Nantes Skyscraper office buildings in France Office buildings completed in 1976
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-ri ...
situated in downtown Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
between a main thoroughfare, Cours des 50 Otages, and Place Bretagne (''Brittany square'').
With a total height of ,/ref> it dominates the skyline of the city of Nantes and is the third tallest building in
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 ...
outside of 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. Si ...
, after Tour Part-Dieu
The Tour Part-Dieu (formerly Tour du Crédit Lyonnais, or colloquially Le Crayon, or The Pencil) is a skyscraper in Lyon, France. The building is tall, in La Part-Dieu district, with 42 floors. The building was completed in 1977. It currently ...
in Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
and CMA CGM Tower in Marseilles
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
. Built on the water tank, the antennas reach above the top floor.
Initiated by André Morice
André Morice (11 October 1900, Nantes – 17 January 1990) was a French politician. He represented the Radical Party (France), Radical Party in the 1945 French legislative election, Constituent Assembly elected in 1945, in the June 1946 French leg ...
then Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of Nantes, the building was conceived by French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
architect Claude Devorsine in the 1960s. By the time of its completion in the 1970s, public aesthetics had changed and the building was an economic failure, remaining mostly empty for a long time. It later became used for government offices.
History
The tower stands on an old area in the center of the city called "Le Marchix". This old medieval quarter had been considered dirty and dangerous long before the 1943 American bombing which considerably damaged it.
During the post-war redevelopment, the construction of two important modernist buildings along Place de Bretagne, housing the Treasury General, the Social Security building and the main post office inspired officials to build a skyscraper nearby. Tour Bretagne was meant to represent the economic power of the city and to display it to the world.
In 1966, with the encouragement of the people of Nantes, a group called SELA (Société d'Equipement de Loire Atlantique) was put in charge of developing the project. SELA asked Claude Devorsine, a forgotten architect today, and Marcel André, an engineering advisor, to bring the project to reality. In 1968, the plan was to construct a six story parking garage at the base of the tower, completed with a gas station, which the cars could access via an exterior ramp. The next three levels were to be a shopping mall with space for 25 boutiques and a restaurant. The offices would occupy the rest of floors except for the top floor, which would house a restaurant that would give panoramic views of the surrounding area.
The work began on September 30, 1971 and was to be finished by summer 1974. However, the construction is protracted by a number of delays, mainly due to an unforeseen number of changes to the plans during construction. Finally, after five years of work, the tower was opened in 1976.
Once completed, the tower was a failure. Ten years had been necessary to plan and build it and mentalities had changed since the 1960s. The building was then seen as a symbol of an inhuman urbanism focused on profit and as an architectural error distorting the traditional cityscape.
It was an economic failure as well, remaining mostly empty for a long time, in part due to the high rent. The restaurant on the 29th floor was soon closed due to technical problems and free visits to the observation deck were stopped after frequent suicides. Furthermore, no businesses opened at the base of the tower as had been initially envisioned. To utilize the of office space, the city government decided to move a part of its administrative offices to the tower.
Technical details
The tower, which measures , has eight elevators, seven escalators and a water tank on the roof that can hold . Due to change in plans, the building now has seven levels of parking, three "ground floors", a "level zero" (which is situated above street level) and 29 floors of offices topped by a few floors containing machinery. The Tax Bureau, Nantes Metrocenter, and the offices of the city Employment Bureau occupy three-quarters of the buildings floorspace. Nearly 800 people work in the tower each day. The tower is managed by a group of co-owners composed of mainly banks but also the city government.
The tower today
By the end of the 20th century, the inhabitants of Nantes, after long lamenting the tower's rigid and monolithic presence, have begun to begrudgingly accept the tower. One can see the gradual acceptance of the tower as it has begun to appear on a number of post cards, once thought unimaginable, and is mentioned on leaflets distributed by the tourism office. The 32nd floor terrace was reopened on June 15, 2012 after being closed for more than 10 years. Fully refurbished and secured, it hosts a restaurant and its layout suggests a huge bird's nest, hence the restaurant's name, ''Le Nid'' ("The Nest"). The terrace gives a full 360-degree view on the city and its surroundings.Gallery
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-ri ...
* List of tallest buildings in France
For non-building structures like towers, masts and chimneys, see List of tallest structures in France
An incomplete list of the tallest structures in France. The list contains all types of structures, may be incomplete and should be expanded.
...
* List of tallest buildings in the European Union
This list ranks the tallest buildings in the European Union that stand at least tall, based on standard height measurement. This means that spires and other architectural details are included in the official height, but not Radio masts and towe ...
References
External links
Pictures and history of the tower
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bretagne Buildings and structures in Nantes Skyscraper office buildings in France Office buildings completed in 1976