Do you discover a vertiginous, solitary tower in Saint-Denis, visible from the Paris ring road and the A1 and A86 freeways? It's the Tour Pleyel, built in the 70s. A former haunt of abandoned offices, it now houses a 4-star hotel. But do you know the story behind this familiar silhouette of northern Paris, atop which once stood a giant revolving billboard? We tell you all about the origins of this seventies relic.
A solitary tower born of an aborted project
Initially, it was a 37-storey office building (33,000 m² of floor space), designed to represent a business district at La Défense, but on the northern outskirts . A renovation in 1985 had already modernized the façade. By the 2000s, however, the tower had gradually emptied out, giving way to vacant spaces and an imposing, mute carcass. It was to be the first of four towers in the northern version of the La Défense business district. In the end, it stood alone. Designed by architects Favatier, Hérault and Folliasson, it was inaugurated in 1973 with an imposing look: concrete façade, massive structure and regular grid of windows. Typical of the 70s.
If you saw it in the '80s or '90s, you'll probably remember its giant rotating billboard perched on the roof. It displayed the brands Philips, Siemens, Kia... and turned slowly, visible for miles. Today, it no longer exists. It was dismantled when the tower was refurbished, and has since been modernized and stripped of asbestos, making way for a more sober top.
Since July 2024, the Tour Pleyel has been transformed into a 4-star hotel, now operating under the name H4 Hotel Wyndham Paris Pleyel Resort. The hotel features 700 rooms on 37 floors, a skybar and panoramic swimming pool at the top, a 10,000 m² conference center, as well as restaurants, fitness areas and modern hotel services.
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Location
Pleyel Tower
153 Boulevard Anatole France
93200 Saint Denis
