Competition won in 2005
Client: MAROC TELECOM
Subcontractors: Jean-Paul Viguier et Associés and Omar Kobbite
Contrator in charge: ARTELIA
Structure Engineering firm: SETEC TPI
Engineering trades firm: SETEC Bâtiment (studies) and PYRAMIDE
Economiste : Paul Pieffet
Acousticien : Rémi Raskin
Signalétique : Dominique Pierzo Conseil
Decorator: Juan Trindade
Surface area Tower: 27 430 sq m NSA
Number of storeys: 20
Budget: €100 M + Tax (TBC)
Mandate: Design and oversight of works, and landscaping
Like many historic cities, Rabat is proud of its past but also eager to look to the future. The city could not, therefore, avoid the necessity to grow while combining tradition and modernity.
This tower had to reflect the flair and potential of tradition and also stand out as modern. Its design was thus influenced by the subtle dialectic underpinning the most outstanding buildings in the country: interior and exterior, sobriety and luxury, warmth and coolness, etc. These do not express relationships of opposition but rather form magical relationships with each other. The tower rises from a large, pure parallelepiped-shaped volume covering the whole surface area. Two prisms are formed by sliding two halves of the volume diagonally, thereby revealing the "original" interior of the form. Only the base of the tower remains intact as if rooted in the ground. This creates an architectural style combining shade and light, delicacy and power. The building is topped off by a 27-metre overhang, which makes a powerful impression on the observer.
