The 15-story residential building designed by MVRDV in Montevideo, Uruguay, has been approved for construction. Named "Ziel," the project consists of individual homes creating an open and permeable environment that allows light and air to flow through the structure, resulting in spacious green spaces for the enjoyment and coexistence of residents. This project is MVRDV's first in Uruguay, designed for developer IXOU in collaboration with Monoblock's executive architecture.
The building is situated on a corner plot adjacent to Villa Biarritz Park, just one block from the sea at the southern end of Montevideo. The design incorporates a courtyard to ensure that each of the 40 apartments receives ample natural light and that vegetation extends from the park throughout the structure, from the courtyard to private terraces and shared patios. The building design aims to evoke a feeling of wide outdoor green space, like a collection of country houses embedded in the dense city
In Montevideo, like in many other cities, it’s common that once people start a family, they leave – buying a villa in the countryside and reducing the vitality of the city. What if we were able to give them with the villa they want, and keep them in the city at the same time, offering a combination of urban and suburban lifestyle? Here, we attempt to give a prototypical solution to combine the two.
-- Jacob van Rijs, MVRDV founding partner.
Future residents will have access to a wide range of facilities, including a rooftop terrace with a lounge, dining room, swimming pool, and gardens, as well as a gym and spa on the lower levels. Additionally, a ground-floor restaurant will seek to contribute to the vitality of the neighborhood
Regarding materiality, the building will feature different types of stone on its facade, which will help distinguish each apartment as an individual entity, while bronze window frames will unite the exterior finishes. At the same time, the building design aims for LEED-Platinum certification. It will have overhangs to limit solar gain and reduce energy consumption, and the apartments will be easily cooled with natural ventilation due to the structure's permeability. The building will also have solar panels on the roof.
Recently, MVRDV completed the construction of the first five buildings of the seven that make up the Gomila Project in Palma, in Mallorca, in collaboration with GRAS Reynés Arquitectos. It consists of 60 new homes of various sizes and types, as well as new commercial spaces, aimed at revitalizing and transforming the land into a vibrant, green, and sustainable residential neighborhood.
