Eight villas form a single complex with a shared underground garage. They are located on an area (0.57 hectares), which was recently part of the garden of the Villa Favorita - storage and display of the art collection of Thyssen-Bornemisza before it was moved to Madrid. The site is protected from the street side by dense vegetation; from the side of Lake Lugano, nothing blocks the panorama. Down the slope, near the water itself, is the Favorite; the surrounding area is formed by post-war mid-rise buildings with tiled roofs typical of the Ticino canton.
The slightly different villas by Herzog & de Meuron are lined up along the plot. The stepped outline and numerous landscaped terraces help them blend into the landscape of the lake shore. Rounded cutouts define the exterior and interior spaces. A special role is played by the stairs, which are deliberately similar to the steps arranged on the trails along the slopes of the Ticino mountains. The facades are covered with brown plaster, teak wood is widely used outside and inside.
Terraces facing the lake are delimited by strips of dense greenery; in addition, the same pines are planted there as in the garden of Villa Favorita down the slope. Michel Devigne was responsible for the landscape component of the project. The total area of the complex is 4390 m2.
