The building is the third tallest in the city, after the landmark Mole Antonelliana which has held the record since 1889, and Piedmont Region Headquarters.

At its summit, a rooftop greenhouse houses Piano35, a public restaurant, alongside a roof garden and a panoramic terrace that provides far-reaching views over the city.

Renzo Piano, Grattacielo Intesa Sanpaolo's architect, described the skyscraper as a "bioclimatic building", being naturally ventilated and cooled; with a substantial amount of its power requirement to be generated from photovoltaic panels that cover the southern façade.

The Intesa Sanpaolo tower was envisioned by Renzo Piano and subsequently built by the Italian main contractor Rizzani de Eccher and Swiss Implenia on an area of about 160 x 45 m between corso Inghilterra, corso Vittorio Emanuele II, via Cavalli and the Nicola Grosa Park.

[3] In 2016, readers of ArchDaily magazine voted the tower winner of the Building of the Year award, in the office category.