A nod to Lyon’s skyline with this photo montage of the two towers, nicknamed the Pencil and the Eraser!
The “crayon” (Pencil), Lyon’s first real building to exceed 100 metres in height, was wiped off the shelves by the “gomme” (Eraser) only 40 years later!
A new “To-Lyon” tower, due to arrive in 2023, has joined the leading trio, reshaping the Lyon skyline, but it hasn’t yet had time to feed the imagination of the people of Lyon.
Let’s take a look at the 5 towers that exceed 100 meters in height in the Lyon Part-Dieu business district.
The Skyline of Lyon, France
Incity, putting the rubber to the road
In 2015, the Incity tower, designed by architects Valode & Pistre and AIA, became Lyon’s tallest tower at 202 m (including the top of its 50-metre mast).
It was quickly nicknamed “la gomme” by the people of Lyon, due to its bevelled shape and the fact that it was added to another tower reminiscent of a pencil.
By 2023, the Incity Tower will be the fifth tallest tower in France, after 4 in Paris: 3 towers in the Paris La Défense district and the Montparnasse Tower.
Pedestrian damage?
Small defects in part of the façade glazing have caused broken glass to fall several times!
Under the effect of heat, micro-bubbles in the glass expand, causing the tempered glass to crack and shatter.
Around 15 panes were affected in the first 3 years.
Since then, external protection has been added at the bottom of the tower on the east side, above the public sidewalk, to protect passers-by!
To-Lyon, puts a lead in his pencil
Reaching a height of 170 metres, the “To-Lyon” tower is now the second tallest tower in Lyon, surpassing the pencil tower by just 5 m!
Erected in 2023, the To-Lyon tower by architect Dominique Perrault, designer of the BNF in Paris, was originally intended to be a double tower, called Two Lyon.
Described by its designer as a black monolith reminiscent of obsidian stone, the tower has been photographed in midnight blue tones.
The tower is built in the extension of the new Part-Dieu station, on the site of the former Hôtel Athéna, completing Lyon’s skyline to the east of Part-Dieu.
Tour Part-Dieu, a pencil cut to size
At the time of its construction, American architect Araldo Cossutta ensured that the top of the tower would not exceed that of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, erected at the top of the hill overlooking Lyon. At 165 metres, it is now the third-tallest tower in Lyon.
Although it’s commonly called the Tour de la Part-Dieu, depending on the generation of Lyonnais you talk to, you may hear it called by several different names:
from Tour du Crédit Lyonnais, as it was originally called, it changed its commercial name according to the signs hanging on its sides, becoming the LCL Tower and then today, the Radisson Tower, named after the hotel at its summit.
But it’s with its nickname, “le crayon”, in reference to its round, pointed shape, that many Lyonnais still prefer to refer to it today.
The Crayon Tower remains an iconic landmark in Lyon, thanks to its age, its central position, its reddish-brown color given off by volcanic stone and its pointed glass dome.
It dominated Lyon for almost forty years, from 1977 to 2015.
Illuminated, the tower is sometimes transformed into a candle during the Lyon Festival of Lights, held every year in early December.
With a restaurant and hotel at the top, it offers one of the finest panoramic views of Lyon and the Alps.
Silex 2 Tower, in extension
In 2021, the Silex 2 office tower, designed by Ma Architectes and Arte Charpentier, will reach a height of 129 metres (111 m without its spire). It now ranks fourth in Lyon’s hierarchy of towers over 100 metres tall.
Silex 2 is the restoration of a former tower to which a narrower vertical extension has been added, with a metal corner frame reminiscent of a pantograph.
The rear of Flint 2 hides the former EDF concrete tower, now covered by a metal structure.
Less height, more Oxygen!
The 115-metre Tour Oxygène, designed by Arte Charpentier, is Lyon’s fifth-tallest tower.
Built in 2010 on one of the few vacant plots of land in the district, the Oxygène tower is directly linked to the Westfield Part-Dieu shopping center.
It incorporates a shopping arcade that contributes to the creation of the largest shopping center in France, in terms of the number of stores.
This is one of the first city-center towers in France to have been designed with the environment in mind.
Photographs and texts: Thierry Allard, all rights reserved.
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The rook takes the rook
Bigger than the Eiffel Tower?
Lyon’s metal tower, still the highest point in the city, was not designed by Gustave Eiffel, but was inspired by the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Built for Lyon’s 1894 Universal Exhibition at the top of the Fourvière hill, it could be visited until 1953, thanks to a hydraulic elevator, and was then transformed into a radio communication tower.
Is Lyon’s Fourvière Tower taller than the Eiffel Tower?
Fourvière’s metal tower is 86 m high (101 m with its antenna), and is built virtually at the top of a hill overlooking Lyon at an altitude of 291 m. Without its antenna, it rises to 372 m above sea level.
Without its antenna, it stands 372 m above sea level. So it’s still higher than the top of the Eiffel Tower, which is “only” 357 m above sea level (324 m high + 33 m above sea level)!
