Luxury residential

Mareterra, the Principality's eco-district wrested from the sea with villas at 120,000 euro per square metre

Prince Albert cut the ribbon on the two-billion-euro development on six hectares that includes super-apartments, villas, swimming pools and shops. signed by top archistars (from Renzo Piano to Norman Foster, from Tadao Ando to Stefano Boeri)

by Nicol Degli Innocenti

5 December 2024

3' min read

3' min read

The name says it all: Mareterra is a new 'eco-district' in Monaco, built on six hectares taken from the sea. The pedestrian district, created from nothing between land and water, gives Monte Carlo new residential complexes, restaurants and shops, a park and a promenade along the coast leading to the famous Larvotto beach.

The project

'This is a project that transforms Monaco, our first eco-district,' Prince Albert declared at the official opening. 'Mareterra integrates perfectly with our coastline and will be considered a natural extension of our territory. For the two billion euro project, realised by Sam L'Anse du Portier, the big names of contemporary architecture were recruited: Renzo Piano, at the express request of the prince, and Norman Foster, Tadao Ando and Stefano Boeri. Piano, who was present at the inauguration, has created "Le Renzo", a majestic 17-storey residential complex 125 metres long that resembles a cruise ship and seems to be suspended five metres above the ground, supported by delicate supporting columns. Below the flats are shops and restaurants. There are only 50 flats, all from 400 square metres upwards, with a super-attic on four floors. The residents' swimming pool is at the prow and, just two metres above sea level, seems to dive into the Mediterranean.

A further four smaller residential complexes were created by Valode & Pistre Architectes, who were also responsible for the entire masterplan. Foster, Ando and Boeri designed the villas on the hill. Mareterra forms a curve that follows the natural course of the coastline, extending the space between the Grimaldi Forum convention centre and the Grand Prix tunnel, made famous by Formula One, towards the sea.

In a place where space is scarce and real estate is among the most expensive in Europe, Mareterra offers larger flats, which are the most sought after on the market. Foreigners who want to obtain residence in Monaco for tax reasons can only do so if they can prove that they own at least one room for each family member.

The real estate market in Monaco is still considered an excellent investment, as evidenced by the fact that all available properties in Mareterra, both the 110 flats and the 14 villas, have already been sold before completion. Prices have also reached record levels for Monaco, reaching, according to unofficial sources, 120,000 euro per square metre.

Since Monaco ceded 95 per cent of its territory in exchange for independence in 1861, the Principality, in order to accommodate a growing population, has had to build taller and taller buildings or steal land from the sea, as with the Larvotto beach. Mareterra is the eighth such intervention, the most ambitious and the most sustainable.

'We are aware that the most sustainable thing would be not to build at all,' said Céline Caron-Dagioni, Minister responsible for Infrastructure and the Environment, at the opening ceremony. 'But the population is growing and our territory is limited, squeezed between the mountains and the sea. We have created an exemplary public-private collaboration project that can serve as an example to other countries in the same situation as us'.

Mareterra, il distretto superlusso del Principato
Photogallery15 foto

Ambitious solutions

The district presents itself as the 'greenest' in the Principality: the buildings were constructed using new construction methods and eco-friendly materials. Energy comes from sustainable sources - over 9,000 square metres of solar panels have been installed - and giant geothermal heat pumps use sea water to heat in winter and cool in summer. To create the new park on the hill, more than a thousand trees - mostly pines brought from Pistoia - have been planted, including footpaths and bicycle paths, while the promenade along the coast allows people to walk along the sea, a rare privilege in a context of high building density. In creating the new district on land reclaimed from the sea, corridors and artificial barriers have been created to encourage marine fauna to colonise the new coastline. The eco-district is intended to demonstrate Monaco's determination to achieve net zero by 2050.

"Mareterra is a pioneering pilot project of building on water, designed to withstand the predicted rise in the Mediterranean sea level," explains Guy-Thomas Soussan-Levy, managing director of Mareterra. "We have been working on this project for ten years, so we had the time and resources to get it right. Nature and architecture are also combined with art. Place Princesse Gabriella, the entrance square to Mareterra, created by Renzo Piano, has at its centre Quatre Lances, a large steel sculpture by Alexander Calder that was bought in 1966 by Princess Grace of Monaco from the American artist. The Genoese architect created his 'smallest museum' here as a tribute to the sculpture, only recently rediscovered and restored.