With a total height of 144 meters (472 feet),[2] it dominates the skyline of the city of Nantes and is the third tallest building in France outside of Paris, after Tour Part-Dieu in Lyon and CMA CGM Tower in Marseilles.

In 1966, with the encouragement of the people of Nantes, a group called SELA (Société d'Equipement de Loire Atlantique) was put in charge of developing the project.

SELA asked Claude Devorsine, a forgotten architect today, and Marcel André, an engineering advisor, to bring the project to reality.

In 1968, the plan was to construct a six-story parking garage at the base of the tower, completed with a gas station, which the cars could access via an exterior ramp.

The building was then seen as a symbol of an inhuman urbanism focused on profit and as an architectural error distorting the traditional cityscape.

The restaurant on the 29th floor was soon closed due to technical problems and free visits to the observation deck were stopped after frequent suicides.

One can see the gradual acceptance of the tower as it has begun to appear on a number of post cards, once thought unimaginable, and is mentioned on leaflets distributed by the tourism office.