Residence in Zante

Subterranean living

The subterranean house, benefitting from the gentle slope of the ground, is hidden inside a landscape of low vegetation in Volimes, Zante island, facing the sea.

 

Design Philosophy

The main design principle was to integrate the building into the singular ground morphology without causing any disruption; maximizing sea views from all spaces of the house became a driving requirement. The rooms are arranged in a succession oriented towards the sea view; wide openings facilitate visual contact with the sea, the swimming pool, and the surrounding landscape.

 

 

Undercut Construction

The ground section on the back side of the building reinforces its bioclimatic performance and allows natural lighting and cross-ventilation. The swimming pool, whose water extends to the living room as a shallow surface, contains a small sitting area inside, in visual continuity with the sea.

 

 

Material Palette

The choice of stone as the predominant material contributes to the building’s integration into the landscape; this further reinforces architectural articulation of the volumes, highlighting the horizontal white plane of the ceiling, juxtaposed to the vertical stone walls. The floor extends from the interior to the open-air spaces uninterrupted, on one single level, maintaining the same materiality. In combination with the large openings of the building, this results in the visual and functional unity of the entire built surface. The same idea of seamless unity is repeated in the construction of the roof, where the frames, curtains, ventilation equipment and lights are built-in, to maintain a single, uninterrupted surface.