Abidjan is getting a new addition to its skyline, and it is set to be a very hard one to miss. Rising in Côte d’Ivoire’s Administrative City, Tour F is expected to become Africa’s tallest building, with a main structure reaching 333 metres and its spire taking the total height to an impressive 421 metres.
Behind the ambitious project is Lebanese-Ivorian architect Pierre Fakhoury, a name that has been shaping Côte d’Ivoire’s architectural landscape for decades. Born in Dabou in 1943 to Lebanese parents, Fakhoury spent his school years in Lebanon before moving to Belgium to study architecture at Saint-Luc de Tournai, where he graduated in 1965.
Now, decades into his career, Fakhoury is behind a project that is once again pushing the limits of what a building can look like in the region.
Meet Tour F
Set to rise 76 floors above Abidjan, Tour F will add around 140,000 square metres of space to the city’s Administrative City. The tower is designed to combine offices with reception areas, restaurants, meeting rooms, amphitheatres and other public-facing spaces, with 21 elevators, two freight elevators and a dedicated panoramic elevator serving the tower’s upper levels.
But perhaps the most exciting part is waiting at the very top.
A 30-metre-high glass “lantern” will crown the tower, offering 360-degree panoramic views over Abidjan and the Ébrié Lagoon. And unlike many skyscraper viewpoints, this one is planned to be accessible to the public, giving visitors the chance to literally see the city from a whole new angle.
The tower’s unusual silhouette also has a distinctly African inspiration. Its symmetrical, faceted geometry was designed to evoke the shape of a stylised African mask, giving the skyscraper a visual identity that goes beyond simply being tall.
And then there is the engineering. Supporting a structure weighing around 170,000 tonnes required 70 deep foundation elements drilled between 60 and 70 metres into the ground, topped by a 3.5-metre-thick reinforced-concrete foundation slab. Its double-skin façade covers around 36,000 square metres and uses approximately 16,000 glass panels, which also work as a brise-soleil to help with solar shading and energy efficiency.
But Tour F Isn’t Fakhoury’s First Big Statement
Long before Tour F began changing Abidjan’s skyline, Fakhoury had already established himself as one of Côte d’Ivoire’s most influential architects.
His best-known work is arguably the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, one of the country’s most recognisable landmarks and one of the world’s largest church buildings. Completed around 1990, the basilica reaches approximately 158 metres and was inspired in part by St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, while taking on a monumental identity of its own.
The project came after an architectural competition held between 1984 and 1986, with Fakhoury’s design ultimately selected for the landmark commissioned under Côte d’Ivoire’s first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny.
The basilica is only one chapter in Fakhoury’s career. He has also worked on major government, cultural and public projects in Côte d’Ivoire and elsewhere in Africa, including the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Memorial and Museum of African Arts and Traditions, as well as projects in Gabon.
From Lebanon to Côte d’Ivoire
What makes Fakhoury’s story particularly interesting is how closely his career connects two worlds. Born in Côte d’Ivoire to Lebanese parents and educated partly in Lebanon before completing his architectural studies in Belgium, he went on to leave a major mark on the country where he was born.
Now, with Tour F, that legacy is reaching a new height; quite literally.
When completed, the tower will not only transform Abidjan’s skyline but also add another major landmark to Fakhoury’s long list of ambitious architectural projects. From a monumental basilica in Yamoussoukro to a 421-metre skyscraper in Abidjan, his work has consistently been about creating buildings that are difficult to overlook — and Tour F may just be his biggest statement yet.
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