Allianz One

Allianz One

Year of construction: 1984
Architect: Jean Willerval, with Branco Vulic
Year of renovation: 2015
Architect : Agence Bridot Willerval
Surface area: 38,000 sq.m
Height: 85 m, 22 floors
Former names: AGF tower, PFA tower, PB25, Allianz Athena

Address: 1 cours Michelet - 92800 Puteaux
Nearest car park: Michelet
Nearest public transport: Esplanade de La Défense

The Allianz One Tower was originally considered to be the first bureaucratic tower in La Défense. With the help of the interior architecture agency, Enfi Design, Jean Willerval is working on absolute flexibility. Indeed, it is based on a square grid, both parallel and perpendicular to the partitions, and banishes blind spaces.

Outside, the building resembles a succession of crystalline prisms whose triangular planes oscillate with undulations, slits and notches. Defects" that bring light inside and multiply the image reflected outside.

Renovation

The Allianz One tower has undergone a sustainable renovation operation until 2015. Built 30 years ago, it has retained its crystalline appearance but has been clad with dark blue-grey semi-reflective surfaces that give it a more contemporary look.

The renovation work was carried out by the architectural firm Bridot Willerval for Allianz. Allianz One obtained four reference certifications in recognition of the willingness and efforts made during the renovation of the Athena Tower:

The French HQE "Exceptional" certificate for its environmental qualities, based on fourteen criteria divided into four areas of performance: eco-construction, eco-management, comfort and health;
The British BREEAM "Excellent" certificate;
The American LEED "Gold" certificate for renovation;
The BBC Effinergie Rénovation label.

The tower welcomed its first users, employees of the Allianz Group, in early January 2016.

A word about the architect

Jean Willerval (1924-1996) began his career in 1959, mainly in his native Nord-Pas-de-Calais. His first significant works include the Saint-Jean-Bosco church in Mons-en-Baroeul and the Lille courthouse. In 1971, the brutalism of the Masséna barracks in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, contrasting with the Nordic modernism of his early works, placed him among the proponents of an international alternative.

At La Défense, Jean Willerval began with a project that came first in the consultation for Tête Défense in 1980 but was not completed. In 1984, he returned to the prisms of the 1920s for the Allianz One Tower. The same year, he co-signed the Descartes Tower with Fernando Urquijo and Giorgio Macola. In association with Bernard Lamy, he is in charge of the Gan Eurocourtage tower. After a long interruption, his son Bruno Willerval took over the project.

Allianz One

  • Allianz One
  • Allianz One
  • Allianz One