Ilot Queyries in Bordeaux by MVRDV and Flint

MVRDV and its local co-architects Flint completed the Ilot Queyries residential complex in Bordeaux last autumn. The huge sculptural volume is set on an approx. 23 000 m² plot located east of the Garonne River and vis-à-vis the city’s Unesco World Heritage historical centre. The Ilot Queyries complex contains 308 apartments, including 163 state-assisted ones, and surrounds a 5200 m² green courtyard almost 200 m in length. This publicly accessible enclosed space is set one storey above street level, thus concealing parking spaces below in a practical touch.  

The new-build responds on all sides to its surroundings: in the south-east, single-storey sections relate to the low buildings of the neighbourhood, while in the north-east, towards the river, the volume rises to nine storeys topped by a restaurant with an extensively glazed roof that provides views of the river and old quarter of Bordeaux. All street-side facades are lower than those around the courtyard. The slopes of the roof vary between 14 and 45 degrees depending on the angle of solar incidence, resulting in unique interior spaces and individualised apartments for different types of residents. 

White-red hybrid

The approx. 10 000 m² ceramic building shell is an eye-catcher on the side facing the street, its differently profiled cream-coloured tiles continuing seamlessly onto the roof and forming a direct contrast to the bright red textured render of the courtyard facades. The light-coloured tiles of the exterior lend the building a high degree of solar reflectivity that is to help avoid the urban heat island effect. The material has a self-washing finish and an antibacterial Hytect effect, and according to the manufacturer breaks down pollutants, thus improving air quality.

Test run for Bastide Niel

The Ilot Queyries project initiated by the two clients Kaufman & Broad and ADIM forms a unit with three nearby smaller residential buildings by JA Joubert Architecture (founded by Marc Joubert, formerly of MVRDV) and its local co-architects Flint. The complex adjoins the Bastide Niel quarter, a 35 ha area slated for careful urbanization. 

© Ossip van Duivenbode

A good ten years ago, MVRDV in partnership with JA Joubert Architecture drew up the master plan for the quarter, taking an approach that focused on creation of sustainable surroundings that lend precedence to pedestrians and cyclists with narrow streets and the atmosphere of a historical and yet contemporary district. As many old warehouses, barracks and railway tracks as possible are to be preserved, re-used or enlarged with new elements. One day some 3500 families are to live in the quarter in lively surroundings in which offices, university buildings, shops and public buildings play a role. The Ilot Queyries building is thus a test run, so to speak, for the quarter. In the view of MVRDV founding partner Winny Maas, the complex accords with all the guidelines drawn up for the Bastide Niel quarter.