MVRDV

🌿🏡 This is La Vallée Verte, a residential project bringing 70 new homes to Bastide Niel in Bordeaux! The project combines the angled forms of "suncuts", of our masterplan for the district, with a verdant "crater": a circular internal courtyard with an intense abundance of plants adorning generous terraces.

Made up of three buildings on a triangular plot, the street-side façades and roofs are smooth and clad in light grey. In contrast, the façades facing the courtyard have full-height openings that face onto private loggias.

Plant pots of various sizes line the edges of these loggias, supporting plants of all types – from flowering shrubs to small trees, and from evergreen to deciduous plants. The project replicates a natural valley landscape, with different plants at different levels, to enable a diversity of species. 🌳🪴🌷

"The green courtyard is like a secret world, almost separate from the rest of the neighbourhood; being there becomes a moment shared between the visitors and the residents", says Winy Maas.

The design includes a route for professional gardeners to access the balconies and provide regular maintenance through openings shaped in the silhouette of a gardener. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 By providing a mix of apartments of different sizes, La Vallée Verte allows for a diverse mix of residents, ranging from single first-time buyers to large families.

🔗 Read more on the project here! https://www.mvrdv.com/news/4876/mvrdv-completes-la-vallee-verte-introducing-a-secluded-green-refuge-in-the-bastide-niel-neighbourhood

📸 Paul Lefevre | Matthieu Lecouvey
Groupe Pichet | A+R PAYSAGES

With the townhouses of Buitenplaats Koningsweg, we’re finalist for the 2026 Heuvelinkprijs – organised by architectuurcentrum CASA! Help us win the award and vote here 🗳️👉 https://casa-arnhem.nl/event/hvp2026/

Located in Arnhem within the natural area of the Veluwe, these 21 terraced "townhouses in the forest" offer an idyllic lifestyle, minimising the borders between the houses and the surrounding natural environment. 🌲🏡

Following the concept of the Buitenplaats Koningsweg masterplan we also designed, their grey finishes identify the houses as reimaginations of now-demolished buildings that once stood here as part of a German military camp in the Second World War.

Residents were able choose their preferred floorplan to suit their lifestyle. The homes are elevated with a small projecting deck, floating above the forest floor. 🌿🌻 There are no gardens, but instead there is an intimate connection to the surrounding forests, with large shared spaces between the homes on both sides.

Developed by: KondorWessels Projecten
Landscape architecture: Buro Harro

📸 Jannes Linders & Daria Scagliola