Architects Foster + Partners have confirmed that the Hermitage Plaza, a mixed-use development planned for Paris, France has been granted 'permis de construire' - the final approval.

The result of a close collaboration with EPAD, the City of Courbevoie, Atelier de Paysage Urbain and Département de Hauts-de-Seine, the project is intended to inject life into the area east of La Défense by creating a sustainable, high-density community.

The project incorporates two 320-metre-high buildings. The twin tower buildings will take the form of interlocking triangles which face one another and enclose a large public piazza.

Covering a total site area of 161,458sq ft (15,000sq m), the first tower will have 91 floors and the second will have 92.

There will be 538 apartments, two spa centres - including a panoramic spa - a luxury hotel and office space.

The angle of the façade panels promotes self-shading and vents can be opened to draw fresh air inside, contributing to an environmental strategy that targets a BREEAM 'excellent' rating.

Exact details of the spas and hotel - including the identity of potential operators - are yet to be confirmed.

Grant Brooker, senior partner at Foster + Partners, said: "Our ambition was to create a project that would inject new life into La Défense by bringing a new type of occupation and creating a new public focus on the edge of the Seine.

"This announcement represents a very important stage in the project's development and is thanks to the passion of our client, Emin Iskenderov, and the support we have had from EPAD, the City of Courbevoie and the Département de Hauts-de-Seine - we could not have reached this milestone without them."

To read more on the Hermitage Plaza and other large hotel projects in Paris,
click here for Spa Business Issue 3, 2011.