Architectural Cases

NOA's Berdenesh Hills development in Saranda, Albania, redefines Mediterranean coastal living with its innovative terraced design. This residential and hospitality complex seamlessly integrates into the natural sloped landscape, offering residents breathtaking views of the sea and the distant Greek island of Corfu. The project draws inspiration from the region's rich architectural history, reinterpreting the concept of a fortified settlement into a modern, clustered neighborhood centered around a vibrant piazza. Scheduled to begin construction in 2026, Berdenesh Hills promises a unique blend of heritage and contemporary design, emphasizing harmonious integration with its environment and fostering a strong sense of community.

Integrated Design with Historical Echoes

The Berdenesh Hills project by NOA is ingeniously designed to harmonize with the picturesque Mediterranean coastline of Saranda, Albania. Situated on a sloping site, the development features a series of terraced volumes that gracefully follow the natural contours of the land. This approach not only optimizes the stunning sea views but also minimizes the visual impact of the structures, allowing them to blend effortlessly with the surrounding low hills and scrub vegetation. The architectural philosophy behind Berdenesh Hills is deeply rooted in the historical context of Southern Albania, which is dotted with ancient castles and fortified settlements. These historical structures, often perched on elevated positions, were shaped by both defensive considerations and the challenging terrain. NOA's design creatively reinterprets this legacy, imagining a contemporary 'citadel' that functions as a welcoming, clustered neighborhood rather than an impenetrable fortress. This innovative concept aims to evoke a sense of heritage while providing a modern, open living environment.

The integration of Berdenesh Hills into its unique landscape is a testament to NOA's thoughtful design process. The terraced arrangement ensures that each residence benefits from unobstructed vistas of the Mediterranean Sea, fostering a strong connection between the inhabitants and their natural surroundings. The choice of earthy plaster tones for the facades further enhances this integration, reflecting the colors of the local soil and rock formations. Subtle architectural elements, such as varying building heights and stepped roof planes, create a dynamic visual rhythm that mirrors the topography, making the complex appear as an organic extension of the hillside. The project's layout revolves around a central piazza, envisioned as the social heart of the community. From this shared space, pathways radiate outwards, leading to individual homes and meticulously gardened terraces. Unlike traditional fortified settlements, the perimeter of Berdenesh Hills remains visually permeable, ensuring that residents and visitors can enjoy continuous, expansive views. This design strategy balances the desire for community and shared spaces with the need for privacy within each dwelling, creating a cohesive yet open residential experience that celebrates both history and modernity.

Enriching Community and Private Retreats

The layout of Berdenesh Hills by NOA prioritizes both communal interaction and private tranquility, creating a balanced living experience on the Albanian coast. The development features a vibrant central piazza, designed as the primary social and spatial hub. This main square unfolds across multiple terraced levels, serving as a dynamic area for circulation, gathering, and community events, complete with a small pavilion. From this central point, a network of pathways extends, guiding residents to their homes and private gardened terraces. Complementing the built environment, a Mediterranean park, carefully planted with species resilient to the coastal climate, weaves through the site. These shared outdoor spaces are instrumental in reinforcing a sense of collective life and community spirit, encouraging interaction among residents while meticulously preserving the privacy of individual dwellings. The thoughtful arrangement ensures that residents can enjoy both the vibrancy of communal life and the peaceful seclusion of their personal retreats.

A defining characteristic of Berdenesh Hills is the emphasis on private outdoor space, with each apartment featuring its own terrace designed as a seamless extension of the interior living area. These terraces are strategically widened at the edges of the buildings, transforming into generous exterior rooms that offer spectacular, expansive views of the sea. To ensure an uninterrupted visual connection to the breathtaking surroundings, parapets are designed with a low profile and detailed with slender metal elements. This meticulous attention to detail allows for open sightlines from within the apartments, maximizing the enjoyment of the Mediterranean panorama. The architecture further reinforces this connection to the landscape through its stepped roof planes and varied building heights, which mimic the natural slope of the site. From above, the roofs appear as an articulated surface, blending harmoniously with the hillside, while from below, the terraces accentuate horizontality without overpowering the view. The facades, finished in warm, earthy plaster tones, reflect the natural colors of the soil and rock, enhancing the development's organic integration. Subtle projections and recesses on the surfaces create dynamic interplay of light and shadow throughout the day, effectively reducing the visual mass typically associated with multi-level residential structures and ensuring the complex feels light and connected to its environment.

Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) has unveiled an ambitious proposal for the Montparnasse Commercial Centre in Paris, envisioning a comprehensive urban transformation. The project seeks to convert the previously isolated 1970s retail complex into an accessible, pedestrian-focused urban district. This initiative, developed in conjunction with the ongoing revitalization of the Montparnasse Tower by Nouvelle AOM, aims to fundamentally alter a historically contentious urban site, shifting it from an inward-looking structure to a permeable area integrated into daily Parisian life, emphasizing movement and public space.

The central objective of RPBW's design is to reintegrate the site with the broader Parisian urban fabric. This involves creating new pedestrian thoroughfares that will connect Rue de Rennes, Montparnasse station, and adjacent streets across three distinct arrondissements. The ground-level areas of the complex are designed to be transparent and inviting, ensuring visual and physical continuity throughout the space. A significant feature of this plan is the introduction of a large, landscaped public square. This piazza is conceived as a serene civic space, protected from traffic and shaded, intended to foster everyday social interactions rather than serve as a grand, monumental gesture. It will host various activities, including cafes, outdoor seating, cultural events, and sports facilities, transforming it into a communal hub for the local neighborhood.

The Ensemble Immobilier Tour Maine-Montparnasse, originally constructed between 1969 and 1973 by AOM, encompasses the tower, commercial center, and the CIT Tower, all situated on the former Montparnasse train station grounds. Its initial design reflected an era of slab-based urban planning, prioritizing separation, elevation, and internal circulation. Over time, this approach led to a disconnected environment, estranged from its neighboring areas. RPBW's plan directly addresses these issues by reimagining the commercial center as a contemporary Parisian block. This involves restoring street-level connectivity, re-establishing public life that was previously marginalized, and integrating diverse programmatic elements. New constructions will be scaled to complement the existing urban context, promoting the perception of a cohesive block rather than an imposing megastructure.

The architectural scheme incorporates a diverse mix of uses, including cultural venues, residential units, commercial spaces, and sports facilities, notably student housing and local retail options. This programmatic variety is intended to support a localized daily life and extend activity beyond traditional retail hours, fostering a more inclusive and walkable urban environment. The architecture itself acts as a framework for interaction, mobility, and coexistence, aligning with broader trends in Paris's approach to major inner-city redevelopment projects. A key principle guiding RPBW's intervention is structural and environmental reuse. The existing structural grid will be preserved as the foundational element, significantly reducing material consumption and embodied carbon. Where new volumes are necessary, they will feature lightweight timber constructions, allowing for the integration of additional programs with minimal structural impact. This strategy of conservation, transformation, and selective demolition underscores a design philosophy that values the inherited urban fabric as a vital resource.

The project, initially commissioned in 2022, faced a temporary halt in 2023 due to discussions surrounding amendments to Paris's Land Use Plan. Design work recommenced in 2025, with subsequent deliberations aligning planning, environmental, and client objectives into a unified vision for both the commercial center and the CIT Tower. In late 2025, the Council of Paris unanimously approved the project, followed by the signing of a protocol agreement between the City of Paris and the EITMM in January 2026, paving the way for this significant urban renewal.