Architects: Martin Duplantier Architectes / Debarre Duplantiers Associés
Area: 7,280 m²
Year: 2013
Photography: Yohan Zerdoun, Arthur Péquin
Lead Architect: Jean-Baptiste Monthiers
Landscape Architect: Anouk Debarre Paysagiste
City: Cenon
Country: France
Viravent Residence, a residential building designed by Martin Duplantier Architectes in Metropolitan Bordeaux, offers 112 flats that integrate into the existing urban fabric. This project, completed in 2013, proposes a new paradigm in response to the controversial 50,000 housing units planned for the area. By blending first-time buyers and investors, the development creates a socially diverse community. The architecture respects the natural landscape and maintains a dense yet harmonious environment, preserving the site’s mineral and vegetal qualities.
The top story in Metropolitan Bordeaux is a project of 50,000 housing units. Envisioned as a real estate opportunity, the overly dense development has sparked controversy. The Viravent project proposes a different paradigm. Built before the start of the 50,000 units but comparable due to the shared design model (located in the heart of town but in a diffuse section without access to the ZAC), the Viravent project integrates into the existing urban fabric rather than imposing on it.
Socially, the project represents a mix of first-time buyers and investors in a sector with both large collectives and freestanding buildings. This blend is also a political statement. Until recently, building anything other than socialized housing in the Hauts de Garonne district was seen as incongruous. Foncière Logement, choosing Jean Nouvel as their architect, accepted the challenge of social melding. The Viravent project, while not a Nouvel design, offers elegant architecture within a conserved frame, with successful commercialization.
In terms of volumetrics, the two buildings follow the site’s sloping topography. The local city planning ordinance (PLU) was not adapted for this project, unlike the 50,000 housing units. The density created by Viravent sets a new benchmark for the region, with 140 units per hectare.
The preservation of the enclosure was crucial. The design considered the site’s limestone walls, cypress, and noble tree species. This natural border acts as the first filter between the project and its surroundings while linking it to nearby buildings. The two segmented buildings blend better with the environment, avoiding long, unbroken facades, and the sight lines follow the hills’ slopes.
The two buildings stretch across the parcel, offering panoramic views over Bordeaux. They create a dialogue between three scales: the unchanged neighborhood, the visible city, and the home, contrasting compact interiors with generous exteriors.
Although the two blocks appear autonomous, they are connected through their basements, providing two levels of underground parking. The figure-ground creates a densely planted courtyard in the housing block, where terraces climb, reflecting the site’s complex topography.
The “integration at any cost” strategy is reflected in the black mineral double skin of the facade. This skin absorbs sunlight, highlighting the green planted portions of the project.
Sidewalks crisscross the courtyard and wrap around the buildings’ exteriors. A path system merges with the terraces, reading the topography while emphasizing the plantings.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Rés L’Écrin Vert, Cenon 33150, Prancis
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
