Tour Total

Tour Total
Tour Total, La Défense, Paris
General information
Type	Office
Architectural style	Modern architecture
Location	La Défense (Courbevoie)
Coordinates	48°53′34″N 2°14′35″E / 48.89278°N 2.24306°E / 48.89278; 2.24306Coordinates: 48°53′34″N 2°14′35″E / 48.89278°N 2.24306°E / 48.89278; 2.24306
Construction started	1982
Completed	1985
Height
Antenna spire	190 m (620 ft)
Roof	187 m (614 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	48
Floor area	130,000 m2 (1,400,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect	WZMH Architects, Roger Saubot

Tour Total (previously known as Tour Elf from 1985 to 1999, and Tour TotalFinaElf from 1999 to 2003) is an office skyscraper located in La Défense, Courbevoie, the high-rise business district west of and adjacent to the city of Paris, France designed in the Modern architectural style. The building now serves as headquarters for Total SA, one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world.

Completed and opened in 1985, it is the third tallest skyscraper in La Défense and the fourth-tallest skyscraper in the Paris area, after the Tour First and the Tour Montparnasse. Tour Total is 190 m (623 ft) tall; a three-metre (9 ft) long antenna is located on its roof which is 187 m (614 ft) above the ground. The site on which the Tour Total was built was initially reserved for a skyscraper which would have been a twin tower to Tour Areva, but the oil shock of 1974 forced the investors to cancel their project.

Tour Total is one of La Défense's third generation of skyscrapers. Architects took into account the flaws in towers of previous generations (such as Tour Areva, Tour Gan, Tour AXA). For instance, the Tour Total is much more efficient in terms of energy consumption than previous La Défense skyscrapers.

Tour Total actually consists of five bodies of different heights super-imposed on each other. The tallest of those bodies has 48 floors, the next two have 44 and 37 floors respectively.