Rotterdam-based architecture and urban design firm MVRDV has completed work along the Quai de Queyries in Bordeaux's Bastide Niel district, with three striking buildings that hide a green oasis within. From the outside, La Vallée Verte looks like three neatly placed housing blocks in a challenging triangular plot. The angles at which the rooflines have been cut ensure that no one building casts a shadow onto the other, giving each one the maximum sun exposure.