Les Méditerranéennes

Les Méditerranéennes is a project for the remodelling of a hillside site in the area of Le Cannet on the French Riviera, overlooking the bay of Cannes and the majestic mountains of Esterel. With this unique location and the breath-taking views reaching all the way from Italy to Saint Tropez, the Mediterranean Sea is the central element of the project, determining the interior and architecture of the villas.

The brief called for the division of the site into multiple dwellings, each offering the same services: a contemporary house with the qualities of a traditional Provençal retreat, large private gardens with good sun exposure, natural swimming pools, privacy, and beautiful views of the natural landscape towards the bay of Cannes.

The site of Le Cannet has a very deep history and a vernacular architecture of terraces and stone buildings has maintained its presence both here and in the surrounding towns and villages. The project incorporates these classic codes of Provençal and Mediterranean construction while adding a contemporary quality of its own. Positioned discreetly on the hills, each villa has been designed to have minimal impact on the surrounding environment and will be constructed with environmentally sensitive materials. In this quest for natural and elemental simplicity, we chose to build parts of each villa using traditional dry-stone walls, reinforcing the harmonious relationship between humans and the natural world through craftsmanship. Finally, opulent vegetation in each garden is achieved through the combination of southern Mediterranean and northern flora introduced from over the mountains, alongside exotic plants from faraway lands introduced through human intervention.