Architettura

CMA CGM Tower by Zaha Hadid (Marseille, France)

The tower stands at the centre of the city's ambitious regeneration project, Euroméditerranée, located 1km north of the historic centre, adjacent to the commercial port.
The site lies 100m back from the sea edge where the elevated motorway viaduct separates as it arrives into the north of the city. At ground level the site is dominated by the sweeping concrete viaducts overhead and the rhythmic colonnades of their supporting columns. It's dense and noisy but a rich physical context. At high level, the context is the spectacular views over the bay of Marseille, the city and the docks.
The building is in 2 parts: tower (56,600 m2) and annex (36,600 m2) and totals 93,200 m2.
The new building accommodates up to 2,700 employees, 700 cars and 200 motorcycles in a covered car park, an 800 seat company restaurant, Gym, auditorium and all the associated technical equipment areas.
The design strategy to deal with an awkward, elongated site was to breakdown the volume of the facade into vertical segments and differentiate them using light and dark glazing. These are then offset to one another with the clear glazing set forward as a separate skin which is articulated architecturally by incorporating the peripheral structural columns.
Architecturally, the external skin has a dual purpose. Firstly it is to act as a solar screen enabling the use of light and non refl ective glazing and secondly to free the façade from the constraints of a modular offi ce interior.
Movement and fl uidity is introduced into the volumes and façades by generating vectors from the ground surface up which gradually and gently converge towards each other and then bend apart towards the top of the tower. The peripheral structural columns and the nomenclature of the external façade panels follow these vectors to create an elegant and coherent tower.


PROJECT
CMA CGM Tower

LOCATION
Marseille, France

DATE
2006 / 2011

CLIENT
CMA CGM

Status
COMPLETED

SIZE
94,000 m²

DESIGN
Zaha Hadid Architects

PROJECT DIRECTOR
Jim Heverin

PROJECT ARCHITECT
Stephane Vallotton

PROJECT TEAM
Karim Muallem
Simone Contasta
Leonie Heinrich
Alvin Triestanto
Muriel Boselli
Eugene Leung
Bhushan Mantri
Jerome Michel
Nerea Feliz
Prashanth Sridharan
Birgit Eistert
Evelyn Gono
Marian Ripoll
Andres Flores
Pedja Pantovic

COMPETITION TEAM
Jim Heverin
Simon Kim
Michele Pasca Di
Magliano
Viviana Muscettola

ASSOCIATED ARCHITECT
SRA - RTA
(Paris/ Marseille)

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Ove Arup & Partners
(London)

SERVICES
Ove Arup & Partners
(London)

FAÇADE ENGINEERS
Ove Arup & Partners
(London)
Robert-Jan Van Santen
Associates
(Lille)

COST CONSULTANT
R2M
(Marseille)