The first US project undertaken by Mad Architects, Los Angeles’s Gardenhouse, has topped out and is expected to complete by the end of 2018, according to the architect.

The project, which has been wrapped in one of the largest outdoor living walls in the US, is aiming to bring “the natural flora found in the adjacent foothills of Los Angeles into the city of Beverly Hills”.

The design rises out of the ground as a small hill, covered in plantings of native, drought-tolerant succulents and vines.

Housing 18 residencies in total, the Gardenhouse is located along Wilshire Boulevard, sequestered on border of the cities of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.

There are three types of residence on offer – townhouses, of which there are three; villas, of which there are five; and condominiums, of which there are eight. Individual balconies and patios extend out over an inner courtyard, with an idea to afford villa residents the opportunity to “at once, enjoy the nature and independence from neighbours”.

Housing types are split between public and private although exact numbers are unavailable at the moment.

“We want to bring the green atmosphere into what would traditionally be considered compact, condo living, by breaking down the scale and massing of the building,” said Mad Architects head Ma Yansong. “Rather than develop architecture where nature exists around the building, we want to give residents the experience of being in the middle of nature, while they enjoy the conveniences of big city living.”