There is a project in Monaco which received a unanimous vote from the communal councilors, who gave their opinion on a real estate project that Vladimir Melnichenko and Olga Eglit envision, according to Monaco Martin. A completely private operation that involves the demolition of four villas: “Les Myrtes”, “Ciel Bleu”, “Saphir cottage” and “Maria”. These townhouses overlook the Sainte Dévote valley, at 24 and 26 Boulevard Rainier lll and below 2 Sainte-Dévote and 2 Louis-Aureglia. The architect Christian Curau plans to remove them to realize a real estate complex comprising of three villas called “Sapphire” (717 m2), “Diamond” (1,386 m2) and “Rubis” (1,489 m2), as well as a building named “Rosier Sauvage” (908 m2) with eight apartments. Costing 50 million euros not including tax. Vladimir Melnichenko is one of the four co-owners of Sibuglemet, a coal mining company that is one of the country’s largest coal suppliers.
Respecting heritage: a recurring theme
Architect Christian Curau explains the architectural side and insists: “This real estate operation is truly a patrimonial step, with the will not only to respect the site but also to be inspired by it as much as possible while constructing the new structures.”
“The nearby rocky slope is conserved with its endemic vegetation. From the Boulevard du Jardin-Exotique, the panorama towards the port is also preserved. The structure of the new villas is inspired by the existing ones, especially Villa Maria, identified as the most emblematic villa of the site because of its very visible position at the corner of the boulevard Rainier-Ill and the Vallon, like a lookout.”
The architect proposes “decorative medallions with the name of the buildings; and their drawings will be directly inspired by the old models of the villas Maria and Myrtes. The door frames will be traditional, with leaves, a mixed composition of wood / aluminum making it possible to preserve aesthetics conforming to the Belle Epoque style. The same colors as those of the existing villas have been chosen for façades and moldings, and belong to the range of colored whites, natural halftones and ocher halftones.”
After the daring architectures declared that the new buildings won’t be “identical constructions”. Let’s hope that this project find the right balance between current need and preservation of the present environment.The start date for the works has not been set yet.
Sources: Forbes.com
