Following an international consultation, the architectural, technical and environmental project for the new Saint-Gobain Tower was designed by the Valode & Pistre agency. Its design is crystalline and ethereal, evoking Saint-Gobain's historic business: glass. Since 2020, the Saint-Gobain Tower has been Saint-Gobain's global headquarters. It also boasts balconies and terraces that are fully accessible to the tower's users, and its base comprises a showroom area housing common services, catering facilities and an auditorium. As for the top of the tower, the 37th floor, called Espace Plein ciel, it is dedicated to events and offers a panoramic view, in a cosy, green space.

It replaces the former Iris building. The latter was demolished in 2016 to create a larger forecourt. At the same time, Paris La Défense, developer and manager of the business district, redeveloped the entire area.

In 2020, the tower was awarded the Geste d'Or Architecture, innovation et matière. The award recognizes the tower's innovative construction techniques, bold architecture and glass envelope. In 2021, the Saint-Gobain tower also obtained the four main international environmental certifications, with the highest scores. Awarded for its environmental approach.

Denis Valode (1946) and Jean Pistre (1951) founded their agency in 1977. Within 20 years, it had become one of the largest in France. This success was due in part to the reconstruction of the Lainé warehouses in Bordeaux, and later to the construction of the L'Oréal factory in Aulnay-sous-Bois. Today, the two architects are particularly involved in high-rise design - in Saint-Denis, Lyon, Beijing and Bombay - and sustainable development.

The tower is divided into three rhombohedrons, cubes whose faces are not square but diamond-shaped. The base houses a showroom showcasing the company's expertise. The sculptural body is designed according to a play of horizontal and oblique lines, with an almost musical rhythm. "Such an architectural object cannot escape observation. It must have a poetic dimension. Emotion creates adhesion", comments Valode.

Each floor has a terrace with a garden, like cavities carved into the façade. An undeniable technical feat, the head of the tower takes the form of a 40-metre-high greenhouse, perched some 150 metres above sea level. Made of electrochromic glass, its second skin can change shade to protect against the sun.