The Valley

An urban mountain landscape

What will the city of the future look like? With the Valley building complex, MVRDV has answered this question. Using its trademark playful flair, the architects’ bureau has designed an urban landscape with dense greenery that blends together city living and work with a unique style. One of the key aspects of the design was ensuring that the 200 residential units felt as connected as possible to their surroundings – a requirement Solarlux and its bi-folding doors were happy to help with. A distinctive landmark whose geometric design evokes the lines of a rugged mountain landscape, the Valley is a 75,000 m² complex that offers space for 200 bespoke apartments, seven floors of offices, an underground car park, and all kinds of shops, restaurants and cultural facilities.

Individual design right down to the tiniest window detail
In order to ensure that even the flats that don’t have their own ter-race or pergola still felt connected to the world around them, Solar-lux’s Ecoline and Highline bi-folding door systems were installed in all three of the residential towers. These systems allow the window fronts to be opened across a huge width with quiet, easy action, so residents can let the outdoors into their homes. The external glass parapet elements provide the necessary safety to prevent falls. Due to the computer-aided “parametric” design of the building, no two flats in the Valley are the same – which meant all the bi-folding door systems needed to be made to measure by Solarlux. The end result is 23 customised designs, each of which comprises five to eight individual elements and “runs” around one or even two corners. The angles of each corner are as specific as the overall geometry of the facade, varying between 100, 110, 120, 130 and 140 degrees. The Highline product line was used for all the apartments that needed thicker glazing due to higher wind loads (1.65 kN/m² at 60 metres and above) and sound insulation requirements (up to 42 dB).

Unobstructed views of the mirrored facade
In contrast to the rugged interior facades of the residential towers, the outer shell of the building has a smooth, mirrored finish. In keep-ing with this design, the inward-facing balconies have been fitted with the noise and weather-insulating SL 25 slide-and-turn system from Solarlux. The non-insulated SL Modular facade module used as a glass parapet element combines with the moving SL 25 ele-ments in the residential towers of the Valley to form a harmonious design aesthetic.

MVRDV