Integration, visual balance, and ratio of scale are the hallmarks of this housing project that is rooted in the establishment of a garden and orchard. Cedars, poplars, and Mediterranean plant species form a palette of greenery that is used to add a lively, organic flair to the grounds, as well as the facade.The plot is currently occupied by an old house that is to be demolished along with a handful of out buildings. The stone facades of the buildings that line the street will be conservedand reutilized in the design proposal.The volume of the building exactly matched the property bounds of the eastern and western portions of the site. The parapet along the full levels will have a limited impact when seen from the street, since the existing buildings will be conserved. The project’s limits will be particularly cherished, as the intention was to intervene in the most discrete manner possible in order to maintain the neighborhood’s intimacy. A secret island, hidden behind a planted screen and a stone wall.
The burning issue in Metropolitan Bordeaux is a project of 50,000 housing units. Envisioned and designed to be a real estate opportunity, the overly dense development has created quite a controversy. The Viravent project proposes another paradigm. Built before the beginning of the 50,000 yet still comparable, given the shared design model (sited in the heart of town, but in a diffuse section without access to the ZAC), the Viravent project integrates into an existing urban fabric more than imposing upon it.
What if we stopped zoning? And what if we projected an office building in the middle of a social housing district? The building Aalta in Cenon takes advantage of different economic incentives and of the development of the Bordeaux tramway to densify and create an active interface between Palmer social district and a quiet neighborhood made of small houses.
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