.jpg)
The project is envisaged as a test for the principles of the neighbouring Bastide-Niel masterplan, which aims to combine the virtues of Bordeaux’s UNESCO World Heritage historic city with the density, ecology, light, and comfort of the modern city.
Ilot Queyries is the largest building in a development of four buildings masterplanned by MVRDV and Joubert Architecture. The landscape architecture of Ilot Queyries was designed by MVRDV in collaboration with Sabine Haristoy and Flint.
Ilot Queyries adopts the same approach as the Bastide-Niel masterplan; the building fills the site to its boundaries, lending an intimate feeling to the streetscape, while the roofs are arranged into carefully calibrated slopes to provide maximum ventilation, daylight, and sun to the building itself and to its neighbours.
The result is a large, irregularly shaped building almost 200m long. Comprising 5,200 sq m, the large courtyard provides a park-like space for the residents. Located one storey above ground level, it also hides the residential parking structure below.
The building responds to its surroundings on all sides. On the south eastern end of the building, sections as low as one storey relate to the low-rise neighbours, while on the north east, facing the river, it rises as high as nine storeys. At this high point, a glass crown houses a restaurant with views of the river and the historic centre of Bordeaux beyond.
On all sides, the façades facing the street are lower than those facing the central courtyard. The roof slopes vary between 14-degrees and 45-degrees depending on their relation to the sun, creating complex and interesting interior spaces that define varied apartments in a wide range of sizes.
The project’s street-facing façades present a cream-coloured palette, allowing it to blend in with the surroundings. The courtyard-facing façades are finished in a bright red textured stucco. Together with the green courtyard landscape of 83 alder and birch trees, this presents a visually exciting environment to complement the liveliness of the park. At various locations, large portals through the building connect the interior courtyard to the outside, introducing flashes of colour that draw the attention of passers-by and inspire curiosity about the space inside.
This project served as preparation for the grander plan of the Bastide Niel development. With this project, we were able to test some of our ideas, which resulted in a masterplan with more greenery in the streets, better cost optimisation for façades, and more open courtyards.
Winy Maas, Founding Partner, MVRDV