World Heritage Corb: the long-neglected housing complex designed by French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier for workers of a sugar factory outside Bordeaux, recently added to UNESCO's World Heritage List, has found a new life as desirable apartments.
The colourful Cité Frugès housing complex was completed in 1924 and is among 17 Le Corbusier projects that received UNESCO listing earlier this month. At the time of construction, it was his first large-scale residential scheme.
French industrialist Henry Frugès was enamoured by the budding architect's work, and commissioned him to design 135 housing units for the employees of his sugar factory.

He specifically requested that he apply his controversial principles of architecture to the design, "however extreme the consequences might be". Many aspects of the resulting complex were typical of the architect's later work. The 50 units that were actually built followed seven templates designed by the architect. This allowed builders to reuse the same formwork for pouring concrete, which greatly reduced costs.

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All of the houses feature rooftop terraces, many of which are accessed by exterior staircases. Other examples of Le Corbusier's five points of architecture that are seen in the design include freestanding facades, horizontal strip windows and column-grid construction.

Despite the ambitions...