By Brian Rohan
PARIS (Reuters) - Planners have chosen a design for a giantnew multicoloured skyscraper for Paris that will be second onlyto the Eiffel Tower among France's tallest buildings.
The 301-metre (988-foot) stainless steel edifice designedby French architect Jean Nouvel will be a metre taller than twoother projects already approved for the city's businessdistrict, but still shorter than the 324-metre Eiffel Tower.
Containing office space, shops, apartments and a four-starhotel, the building will be a symbol of the city's developmentbeyond its traditional borders, the head of the developmentbody EPAD said.
"The Signal Tower will aim to be the building of referencefor Greater Paris (metropolitan area) which is being worked onat the moment," Patrick Devedjian told a news conference.
The plans follow initiatives launched by President NicolasSarkozy to draw acclaimed architects to France and revamp thecapital's periphery.
The skyscraper in the city's western outskirts will have aseries of environmentally friendly features.
Each of the tower's four segments will house a largecolour-themed atrium to provide ventilation, while solar panelsand wind turbines will help generate power for the building.
"It is actually (made up of) several buildings, stacked ontop of each other, and each containing a world of its own,"said Nouvel, the designer of Barcelona's missile-shaped TorreAgbar building and Paris' steel and glass Arab World Institute.
The structure will be finished in 2015 at a constructioncost of 600 million euros (478.6 million pounds), excludingcommercial development or design commissions, two maininvestors said.
The competition to choose a design had drawn architecturalheavyweights such as Daniel Libeskind, Jacques Ferrier andNorman Foster.
Some 33,000 square metres have been allotted for luxuryapartments to be built around a central garden in thebuilding's uppermost segment, EPAD said.
The rest of the building's 71 floors will be divided upinto 50,000 square metres worth of office space, while thehotel will take up 39,000 square metres and shops 10,000metres.
Some 8,000 square metres is designated a public area.
(Editing by Andrew Roche)