Nantes will find its lookout, its lighthouse. Emptied of its offices since 2020, the emblematic Brittany Tower will be completely rehabilitated. The real estate developer Giboire, who acquired the majority of the spaces, presented the future face of the tallest building in the city of the dukes. First lesson: the tower will change color and abandon its brown appearance typical of 1970s town planning. The skyscraper delivered in 1976 will adopt a more modern light gray.
Another surprise: the building will gain several floors and will soon have 34. The most spectacular will undoubtedly be found at the very top. “Level 33 will host a place of conviviality and culture on a rooftop and level 34, culminating at 107 meters, open, will house a panoramic belvedere accessible to all free of charge, with a 360-degree view of Nantes, the metropolis and the estuary of the Loire”, promises the promoter.
The renovation of the tower was the subject of a major consultation launched in January 2023. And the announced transformation will take place. The original shape of the tower will be retained but it will no longer accommodate offices, denying part of its past. Instead, Giboire plans “five levels of underground parking, commercial spaces, premises dedicated to local and solidarity know-how, a coworking space and around 200 housing units on 30 levels”.
A hotel and a panoramic restaurant at the foot
The new thing is that the Nantes lookout will no longer be alone. At its feet, the PCA-Stream and Magnum Architectes et Urbanistes firms plan to erect a second eight-story building. Accessible from Place du Cirque, it will host a four-star hotel with around a hundred rooms and a panoramic restaurant open to the public. The developer promises a “reintroduction of nature” into this clearly very mineral space, in particular through the installation of green roofs, green spaces and the planting of climbing plants.
This “very large-scale” project will first have to focus on the asbestos removal work on the existing building until 2026. The developer Giboire hopes to be able to deliver the whole in 2029. For its president Michel Giboire, “it was time to bring new life to this place which has become obsolete.” Because this Brittany tower “embodies a part of the city’s history, a strong symbol of its heritage”.
