At Marea, architecture approaches landscape and landscape approaches architecture. Located outside the ancient city of Batroun, fifty kilometers up the Lebanese coast from Beirut, the development consists of sixty units arranged into four terraced rows and was previously a Syrian army camp inaccessible to civilians. Stepping up from the sea, private beachfront houses are followed by a diversity of smaller dwellings – semi-detached houses, townhouses, and condominiums.

The villas are set into a complex geography of triangulated folds which continues across materials and surfaces. The villas’ folded green roofs become an extension of this landscape, an undulating topography that descends to the sea. A network of stepped footpaths weaves around the blocks of villas, as in a hill town – while vehicular circulation is relegated to an underground network of parking spaces, accessed from the top of the site.

Despite the site’s density, units have substantial privacy and amenities, with double-height living spaces, patios, and private swimming pools. Even the smallest condos have a patio or roof deck. Residents share access to a common clubhouse on the beach.