In the Garonne river port, Bassins à flot, Bordeaux. As though washed up here by nearby waters, rises the hulk of the World War II submarine base.
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-02-876x393.jpg)
Beside us, other remains of the shipwreck: some small constructions that have to be integrated into the project (A). The water table is very high. We cannot excavate to build car parks.
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-03-876x1312.jpg)
We build two storeys right across the plot, introducing the car parks at the centre and arranging dwellings around them, with services along the front.
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-05-876x585.jpg)
In this case, the floor is porticoed, drawing the perspective from the street towards the old submarine base. Three volumes are arranged on this platform.
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-04-876x777.jpg)
(B) is very low (2 floors), and metal. A small, shiny animal that accompanies the existing dwellings.
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-06-876x1199.jpg)
(C) at the corner, a small tower with four façades. Two metal faces, two timber faces.
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-07-876x1292.jpg)
(D) A concrete-walled block that follows the limits of the plot and defines the urban from towards its sides.
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-08-876x1198.jpg)
(E) The centre is an open, communal garden, offering views and sunlight to the dwellings behind.
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-09-876x1003.jpg)
The whole, seen from the old port, is mobile and rather jaunty. Like the old ships that are beached there, waiting to be broken up. Source by mateoarquitectura.
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-10-876x369.jpg)
- Location: Block B9 Bàssins-à-flot, Bordeaux, France
- Architect: mateoarquitectura
- Architect in Charge: Josep Lluís Mateo
- Project Leader: Laurent Baudelot
- Project Team: Till von Mackensen, Blanca Lora-Tamayo, Èlia Canadell, Maria Güell, Sara Dordas, Àlex Vilar, Marta Gual, Anna Profitós, Lu Xiao, José G. Perpiñá, Frédéric Géraud, Mireia Luzárraga
- Site management: Xavier Monclús
- Client: Kaufman & Broad
- Area: 30,000 m2 of urban planning and 10,000 m2 of housing block
- Year: 2016
- Photographs: Luc Boegly and Jean-François Tremege, Courtesy of mateoarquitectura
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-11-876x687.jpg)
![housing in Bordeaux](https://aasarchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/Urban-planning-and-housing-in-Bordeaux-by-mateoarquitectura-12-876x582.jpg)