Tour Noreba

Avenue Mohamed VI, Tangiers, Morocco

2019

The building is located in the celebrated corniche of Tangiers, on a plot that stands to North between the beach and Avenue Mohamed VI while facing Route de Malabata southwards. Towards West, the plot is limited by the man-made channel of the Mrhourha stream.  The plot is currently occupied by two mid-rise residential and aparthotel buildings completed in the late 1970s but never successfully occupied and which the owner now aims to demolish and redevelop accordingly.

The new programme comprises a residential tower with a mixed-use retail podium that includes fitness centre, restaurants and coffee shops, in addition to a public garden and deck parking. The main component of the residential programme is mostly small units, varying between 1- and 3-bedrooms, tailored for both young people who want to live in a modern and hassle-free area of the city, and the so-called “empty nesters”, i.e. senior people who no longer have children at home and wish to move into a smaller unit in a more convenient location. The building will have all necessary modern amenities such as reception, health & fitness, swimming pool, multi-purpose room and kids club.  In addition, entirely separate from the residential programme, the building podium will include a retail area facing avenue Mohamed VI which will offer shops, restaurants and coffee shops with landscaped sitting areas.

The city of Tangiers has been a source of inspiration for artists and architects across history. Its Mediterranean climate, architecture, landscape, light, and history, have inspired leading poets and writers. This quasi-magical atmosphere is well evident in the work of artists such as Eugène Delacroix, Henri Matisse or Rudolf Ernest; artists that were able to capture the intense colours and textures of the city as well as its architecture and landscape. Our design draws from many of these sources, including the arcades of places like the Palais Moulay-Hafif, the Tailleur des Artisans or the inspiring York castle.

The design of the tower, a simple minimalist volume shaped as a square plan and surrounded on all sides by generous balconies, in its form, colour and textures, is subtly inspired in the architectural identity of Tangiers. On the edge of these verandas, a system of aluminium arched elements creates a light trellis that echoes the Islamic tradition of the mashrabiyaand its patterned elements that both veil and frame interstitial spaces. The wall on the background is constituted by a terracotta block-wall clad in traditional white glassed handmade tiles in fish scale pattern. Painted wood, or power coated aluminium shutters in the traditional indigo-blue pigment of the region, completes the surface and creates diversity in the façade.

The tower stands on a podium that aims to function as an active retail and entertainment public space that operates all-year round offering a great variety of cafés and restaurants for both local residents and tourists from nearby international hotels. A landscaped square with kiosks, outdoor seating and large balconies with suspended gardens and terraces, in addition to a water-feature system, complement the retail offer and new underground parking of the beachfront.

Location: Avenue Mohamed VI, Tangiers, Morocco
Client: Noreba, SA
Project Brief: Architecture and coordination
Programme: Apartment building with ground floor mixed-use and parking
Gross Built Area: 42,000 sq. m (plus deck parking)
Project Status: 2019 (concept design)
Model: Norigem