Herzog & de Meuron's Tour Triangle tops out at 180 meters in Paris

May 11. The Tour Triangle reached full height overnight. 180 meters, 42 stories, trapezoidal footprint. Herzog & de Meuron's first Paris tower and the city's first approved skyscraper since 1977.

The structure sits in the 15th arrondissement, southern edge of the périphérique ring road. Third-tallest building within Paris city limits after Tour Montparnasse and the Eiffel Tower. The facade reads glass, but the frame is concrete and steel. Designed to house mixed-use: hotel, conference center, office floors. A public observation deck at the summit.

The permit took sixteen years. First proposed in 2008, debated through three mayor administrations, approved in 2015, construction start delayed until 2021. Paris hasn't built tall since Montparnasse went up in 1973 and became the case study for what the city didn't want. Tour Triangle passed city council by three votes.

The silhouette is a compressed triangle when viewed from the south, a blade from the east. The glass alternates matte and reflective panels in a chevron pattern, intended to break the read of a single monolithic surface. At street level, the base is set back from the lot line to preserve a public plaza. The plaza design hasn't been released.

Completion is scheduled for late 2027. The project faced repeated delays: permit litigation, pandemic shutdowns, supply-chain lead times on the custom curtain wall. Herzog & de Meuron has built taller elsewhere (Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg reads lower but holds more volume), but this is their first vertical gesture in a city that legislated against them for half a century.

The test will be whether Paris reads this as an exception or a precedent. The mayor's office has stated no further skyscraper permits are under review. Tour Triangle was approved as a singular case tied to a specific neighborhood redevelopment plan. The city's skyline protection law remains in effect everywhere else.