In Galatsi, an 85m² apartment from the early 1990s is reorganized around a continuous furniture element that turns the boundary between communal and private space into a space of its own.

 

In Galatsi, Athens, Space is around us transforms an 85m² apartment dating from the early 1990s by rethinking the conventional boundary between communal and private space. Rather than treating the renovation as a sequence of separate rooms, the project introduces a continuous architectural language in which furniture, circulation and materiality operate as a single system.

At the centre of this strategy is a multifunctional element that replaces the narrow corridor and door traditionally separating the living areas from the bedrooms. Conceived as a spatial threshold rather than a fixed boundary, it becomes the organizing spine of the apartment.

 

A threshold as an architectural device

Beginning at the entrance, the continuous furniture element accommodates coats and shoes before transforming into a laundry unit. It then directs movement towards the private areas and continues seamlessly into the kitchen cabinetry.

Storage, appliances and circulation are therefore consolidated within a single architectural gesture. The element does more than organize functions: it mediates between communal and private space, gradually changing its role as it extends through the apartment.

This idea also informs the treatment of the ceiling. Above the entrance and kitchen, a lowered plane finished in the same brown tone creates a subtle visual boundary while concealing the ductwork of the ceiling-mounted cooker hood.

 

A new centre for domestic life

The former separation between the kitchen and living areas is removed in favour of an open-plan arrangement. Kitchen, dining and sitting areas are brought together, allowing everyday domestic activities to overlap more freely.

A large island occupies the centre of the space. Incorporating the ceramic hob, it brings cooking and food preparation into the social core of the apartment.

Its sculptural character is reinforced through a cladding of polished Emperador Dark marble. The deep brown veining strengthens the monolithic quality of the island, while the reflective surface helps diffuse natural light through the room.

 

The reorganization of the plan also makes it possible to convert the former storage room into a WC. As a result, the existing bathroom becomes a master bathroom with direct access from the main bedroom. A ribbed-glass door introduces a more nuanced degree of privacy between the two spaces.

 

 

Warm materials and existing traces

The apartment’s north-eastern orientation informed the choice of warm brown and mocha tones, which respond to the softer morning light. Brown lacquer defines the continuous filter furniture and the wardrobe of the smaller bedroom, while natural oak veneer adds a warmer texture to the main bedroom.

Large-format ceramic slabs replace the original tiled surfaces in the wet and circulation areas. By contrast, the existing oak parquet in both bedrooms was retained, restored and returned to its natural tone.

The coexistence of new and existing materials allows the original apartment to remain legible within the renovation. Rather than erasing its previous identity, the intervention establishes continuity between what was retained and what was introduced.

 

The generous terrace overlooking Alsos Veikou extends the interior outdoors. Organized into dining and lounge zones, it becomes an additional living area and reinforces the relationship between the apartment and its surroundings.

Ultimately, Threshold reinterprets the typical Athenian apartment through a series of transitions: between public and private, open and enclosed, furniture and architecture, existing and new. Here, the threshold is no longer understood as a dividing line, but as a space in its own right.

On a west-facing slope of Andros, three semi-subterranean residences sink into the terrain, leading from a shadowed descent to open views of the Aegean.

 

On a west-facing slope of Andros, three semi-subterranean residences by MARI GOGA Architecture are embedded into the natural terrain with minimal visual impact. From above, their presence is revealed only through a series of traces: elevator shafts, descending entrance stairways and linear skylights appearing as narrow incisions in the ground.

The composition follows the elongated geometry of the plot and its natural difference in elevation. As a result, the three residences are arranged sequentially along the slope. The first and largest includes a main volume and an independent guesthouse, while the third occupies the lowest point of the site as a fully autonomous unit.

 

A descent from shadow to light

Access to each residence takes place from the rear through descending stairways or elevators. Exposed concrete walls frame the route, intensifying the sense of gradually entering the earth.

At the end of this descent, the spatial experience changes abruptly. Large west-facing openings reveal the sky and the Aegean, creating the impression of being suspended high above the sea.

 

This sequence establishes the project’s dual character. On the one hand, the residences evoke the protected condition of a cave. On the other, their elevated outlook recalls the panoramic position of an eagle’s nest.

Inside, open-plan communal areas reinforce the linear organization and continuity of movement. A long corridor leads towards the bedrooms, all oriented westwards to frame the horizon.

 

Filtering the western light

Protected linear semi-outdoor spaces extend along the western façades. Perforated bamboo panels filter the strong afternoon light while also reducing the force of the wind before it reaches the interior.

Their position changes in response to the sun and to the needs of the occupants. Consequently, the façades are never static. Instead, light, shadow and transparency shift continuously throughout the day.

Linear skylights are formed as internal courtyards, bringing natural light and ventilation deep into the subterranean spaces. Their vertical proportions reinforce the connection between the enclosed interior, the landscape above and the changing daylight.

 

Material continuity with the landscape

The material palette reinforces the relationship with the terrain. Exposed concrete and local stone emphasize the weight and subterranean character of the architecture. Timber and bamboo elements soften these surfaces through warmer, earth-toned textures.

Outside, the landscape follows the natural inclination of the site. Indigenous vegetation gradually covers the accessible roofs and fills the spaces between the residences. In this way, the disturbed terrain is allowed to recover and the architecture is progressively absorbed back into the Cycladic landscape.

 

The project is conceived as a passage in both physical and experiential terms: a controlled descent into the earth, followed by a gradual return to light, openness and the distant horizon.

Natassa Lianou and Ermis Chalvatzis talk about “Smart Design Elegance,” their years at Zaha Hadid Architects, building in Greece and the future of megacities.

 

Led by Natassa Lianou and Ermis Chalvatzis, Lianou Chalvatzis Architects (LC Architects) is a London-based architecture and design practice exploring the possibilities opened up by new technologies. Across projects of different scales and requirements, the studio brings together computational thinking, functionality and architectural expression. Its approach, described as “Smart Design Elegance,” seeks to combine innovation with an architecture shaped by the everyday experience of the people who inhabit it.

 

 

You began your careers at a major architectural “school,” Zaha Hadid Architects. What did you bring with you when you joined the practice, and what had you gained by the time you decided to follow your own path?

LC: We find it fascinating that an idea can be transformed into a space experienced by hundreds of people, and potentially by generations living in different periods and conditions. Architecture characterizes places and expresses eras and cultures.

Throughout our journey, we have seen how an idea can have a significant impact on a place. It can change everyday life and people’s lives anywhere in the world. We were fortunate to experience Zaha’s “flame” at close quarters and to work on unique projects around the globe. That flame — the power of a singular gaze and a different perspective on things — is something we believe in and continue to apply.

 

 

What does “smart design” mean to you? How has it already changed architectural thinking and practice, and what possibilities does it open up as it becomes more established and accessible?

LC: For us, smart design is the successful combination of multiple parameters, resulting in the creation of a functional system. It is not enough for something to be merely beautiful, merely functional or merely bioclimatic.

The combination of functionality, sustainability, constructability, aesthetics, staying on budget and many other parameters creates an intelligent environment capable of responding to multiple conditions and requirements, as well as to local constraints. The ultimate result should be an exciting space capable of triggering unique experiences.

We call this “Smart Design Elegance.” Smart design must also be flexible. It should anticipate easy adaptation and establish methods through which systems and subsystems can be transformed or replaced, enabling architecture to respond to the changing conditions and requirements of each period.

 

 

What was your experience when you first moved from small-scale construction — operating almost as a prototype — towards the realization of a complete building?

LC: The logic and philosophy of construction are governed by common elements and principles, whether we are dealing with a smaller structure or a large project.

For us, every project contains the notion of the “prototype.” We are interested in approaching everything we are asked to design from a new perspective. Design incorporates discovery and research; it inherently contains the idea of the new.

Therefore, all our projects involve challenge, experimentation and comprehensive design. They also involve collaboration with multiple disciplines, constraints and regulations that must be respected, coordination and technical issues that need to be resolved. All of these are incorporated into the design in pursuit of what we describe as an “effortless” result.

We design everything to the extent that circumstances allow. Consequently, at every scale, all elements are there to frame and reinforce the architecture, strengthening the feeling and experience of its users.

 

 

Which aspects of “smart buildings” are not immediately expressed through their morphology, as seen in images? How can the overall experience of a space be designed through new means of design and construction?

LC: The way a space is designed, as well as the experiences it offers, depends on the architectural qualities that compose it. New means of design and construction are tools that we use to support the realization of our architectural vision.

 

You already have significant projects completed or under construction in Greece. How do you work with local construction conditions?

LC: A fundamental prerequisite for creating a successful project anywhere in the world is that all members of the team — architects, engineers, clients, contractors and others — share the same high ambitions for the project, together with a positive attitude and vision.

In every place where we build, we work with local construction conditions and techniques. Through our design, we aim to achieve their successful implementation.

 

 

What is the role of the client in your projects when the morphology itself is already so distinctive? What should someone expect when commissioning you, and what do you contribute as architects beyond their initial expectations?

LC: Our work has a methodical character. Through mathematical, rational and realistic terms, we provide solutions to the particular needs or problems presented to us.

For us, design is the outcome of an idea and a story that is born and shaped in collaboration with the client, with the purpose of resolving specific needs. The central element of every project is the human being and the experiences they live through.

We could say that every project carries our DNA. However, the final result, which becomes the identity of the project itself, reflects the vision of its owner. Through design, spatial qualities and the elements that constitute a project, we aim to turn every commission into an opportunity for something fresh and new.

 

 

What are the studio’s next steps, and in which direction do you feel the need to focus your research?

LC: The sky is the limit. Megacities. Virtual reality. Artificial intelligence. Humanity is moving towards increasing concentrations of population, and this fascinates us. These complex, evolving systems — vertical and otherwise — together with their overlapping layers, are of enormous interest to us.

 

The interview was first published in print in ek246 | April 2020.

A modernist house in Chalandri, built in 1969–1970, is renovated around open-plan living, ceramic claustra and a reworked pilotis, with references to Greek critical regionalism.

 

The renovation of a modernist residence in Chalandri, originally built between 1969 and 1970, is grounded in the principles of the existing structure while introducing references to Greek critical regionalism.

Motus Design & Architecture reinterpret the building’s original identity through a contemporary architectural vocabulary, balancing continuity with a new approach to domestic life.

 

Reorganising domestic life

The main living areas adopt an open-plan configuration that strengthens spatial continuity and creates visual connections through the residence. Three bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, provide functional clarity and privacy.

Their distribution also establishes different degrees of independence within the house. The children’s bedrooms are located on the upper floor, while the main bedroom occupies the ground level, and the living room is conceived to accommodate different patterns of everyday use.

Material and colour choices reinforce this organisation. Terracotta tones, timber surfaces and tiled finishes establish a warm palette, while built-in elements are treated as part of the architectural composition rather than as autonomous furnishings.

 

Ceramic claustra as a Mediterranean filter

A central architectural device is the strategic use of ceramic claustra. These permeable screens define and organise both interior and exterior spaces without interrupting their visual continuity.

Their perforated geometry filters sunlight and softens its intensity. The resulting interplay of light and shadow refers to Mediterranean architectural traditions, giving the screens both environmental and spatial significance.

Rather than acting as decorative surfaces, the ceramic elements become active boundaries. They let light and views pass through while creating varying degrees of separation, privacy and transparency.

 

Extending the interior outdoors

The existing pilotis is incorporated into the new design as an essential outdoor living area. It mediates between the interior of the house and its quiet urban surroundings, extending domestic activity beyond the enclosed rooms.

Within this sheltered exterior space, a small swimming pool reflects the volume of the building above. A tall rectangular wall frames it and provides a strong architectural backdrop.

 

The project works through a measured reinterpretation of the existing modernist structure. Open-plan living, ceramic filters and the integration of the pilotis create a sequence of spaces in which interior and exterior remain closely connected.

 

The project was first published in print in ek307 | May 2026.

The conversion of two old warehouses into an architectural studio became an exercise in reuse for P4architecture. Rather than approaching the existing shell only as a functional container, the architects used it to reflect their own design process. Section and plan therefore become the main tools for organizing everyday work.

 

Three levels of design

The studio develops across three distinct levels. Meetings, presentations and daily discussions take place on the ground floor. Below, the basement accommodates the model workshop and materials library. Physical models, construction-detail prototypes and material palettes are produced there.

By contrast, the mezzanine is dedicated to digital design. A central worktable accommodates the main workstations, while diffused natural light reaches the upper level.

These different activities converge on the ground floor. An elongated table receives models, sketches, diagrams and material samples. At the same time, a large pin-up board displays material from projects in progress. As a result, collective work remains visible and becomes part of the studio’s daily spatial experience.

 

A tiered structure at the centre

An inclined timber seating structure connects the ground floor with the mezzanine. It operates simultaneously as circulation, seating and a place from which discussions can be followed.

Along its sides, movement towards the basement is combined with supporting functions. These include a reading area, kitchen, bathroom and storage. Consequently, the timber structure becomes a central mechanism within the plan rather than an autonomous piece of furniture.

Slender metal-framed glazing brings daylight into the two narrow ends of the space. To the west, the studio opens towards the city and the ordered façade of the Athenian apartment building. To the east, it faces the rear courtyards of the surrounding blocks.

Pipes, air-conditioning units and other everyday elements remain visible on this side. Thus, the contrasting faces of Athens become part of the working environment rather than something concealed from it.

 

 

Between archive and ongoing work

The two long walls of the existing shell also take on an active role. Along one side, a continuous metal-and-timber bookcase holds books, artworks, models and archival material from completed projects.

Opposite it, a large pin-up board is constantly updated. Sketches, references, ideas and material from current projects document the office’s ongoing design process. One wall therefore operates as an archive of accumulated knowledge, while the other changes with the present.

Through this organization, the P4architecture Workshop is conceived as more than a conventional workplace. Model making, digital design and collective discussion remain visually and spatially connected. In this way, the reuse of the existing shell becomes part of the process through which architecture itself is produced.

At the Hyades Mountain Resort in Trikala Korinthias, Tenon Architecture transforms an existing space into a hospitality interior organized around a continuous timber structure.

 

Completed in 2020, The Wooden Cave combines algorithmic design with manual construction. Its spatial identity emerges from the contrast between a curved wooden interior and a darker stone perimeter.

 

Two distinct spatial zones

The plan is divided into two main zones. At its centre, a continuous curved structure organizes the principal space. Around it, secondary areas face the surrounding landscape and are finished in dark local stone.

The contrast between the two materials establishes a clear spatial hierarchy. The stone perimeter forms a heavier outer layer. By contrast, the timber structure creates a softer internal enclosure. Its geometry refers to the idea of the cave as a protected interior without literally reproducing a natural form.

Two sleeping areas are integrated directly into the wooden structure. An open-plan kitchen occupies the same central zone. Meanwhile, the perimeter accommodates the entrance, a sitting area with a fireplace and the bathroom.

As a result, furniture, surfaces and spatial divisions are treated as parts of a single architectural system rather than as separate additions.

 

Timber and environmental performance

Material selection plays a central role in the project. The curved structure is constructed from sawn spruce timber. By contrast, the kitchen, cupboards, flooring and other built-in elements use knot-free pine plywood. Dark local stone defines the secondary spaces.

The timber construction does not touch the existing concrete shell directly. Instead, a gap between the two allows air to circulate continuously. This protects the wood while also using its natural properties to help regulate indoor humidity and temperature.

Such passive regulation is particularly relevant to the mountainous location. Trikala Korinthias experiences considerable temperature variations throughout the year. Therefore, the construction detail contributes both to the durability of the timber and to the environmental performance of the interior.

 

From algorithm to handcraft

The curved structure consists of 1,112 individually shaped timber elements. The geometry of each piece was generated algorithmically and then transferred to the construction site.

However, no digital fabrication machinery was used in their production. The individual elements were processed manually and organized into 55 larger modules. Each unit was then carved and adjusted by hand before final assembly.

The construction was undertaken by Tenon Architecture founders Apostolos Mitropoulos and Thanos Zervos themselves. The timber structure was completed without external carpenters or specialist fabrication teams.

Consequently, one of the main challenges was translating digitally generated drawings into clear instructions for manual woodworking. The final result brings the two methods together. Algorithmic logic determines the geometry, while handcraft gives the structure its final form and texture.

Through this approach, construction becomes an extension of the design process. Spatial organization, material performance and fabrication are integrated into a single interior system.

Set at the edge of a forest on Mount Parnassus, Periscope is conceived as a winter retreat composed of two clearly differentiated volumes.

 

Panos Nikolaidis combines a grounded stone base with a timber upper volume under a pitched roof. Together, the two elements reinterpret familiar characteristics of mountain architecture through a contemporary composition.

 

Stone base and timber lookout

The elongated stone volume runs parallel to the boundary of the plot. A recess interrupts its otherwise solid façade and marks the entrance to the house. From there, a narrow glazed opening leads towards the main living spaces.

Shared functions are concentrated on the ground floor. The open plan is divided into three interconnected zones. Along the rear wall, the kitchen and storage areas form a continuous working surface. At the centre, the dining area and fireplace create the main gathering point.

Meanwhile, a more informal sitting area develops parallel to the principal façade. The dining element continues from the kitchen into a long table. As a result, food preparation, dining and everyday living remain closely connected.

Above the stone base, a smaller timber volume accommodates an independent guesthouse. Its elevated position gives it the character of a lookout. From this level, views extend over the treetops towards the surrounding mountain landscape.

 

Framing the forest

The upper volume projects beyond the stone base and is wrapped in timber. Boards continue across the façades, roof and interior surfaces, creating a consistent material envelope.

A recessed glazed opening follows the geometry of the pitched roof. Consequently, the sitting area opens directly towards the forest. A sheltered balcony extends this relationship into the exterior.

Inside, a curtain follows the roof profile and separates the more private zone of the guesthouse. The bedroom and bathroom are positioned behind this soft boundary. Privacy is therefore achieved without interrupting the continuity of the timber interior.

The main house develops a different relationship with its surroundings. Stone gives the ground floor a sense of weight and permanence. At the same time, selected openings frame controlled views towards the landscape.

By contrast, the elevated timber volume appears lighter and more exposed. Its position above the stone base strengthens the visual connection with the forest canopy.

References to the surrounding woodland also enter the interiors through objects and artworks. Deer motifs appear in different forms throughout the house. Rather than acting simply as decoration, they reinforce the relationship between domestic space and the nearby forest.

Through this contrast between weight and lightness, the residence proposes two distinct ways of inhabiting the mountain landscape. The stone base remains anchored to the terrain. Above it, the timber guesthouse operates as an observation point among the trees.

 

The project was first published in print in ek253 | December 2020.

Located next to the University of Guelph Arboretum in Ontario, Canada, the new Honey Bee Research Centre by Moriyama Teshima Architects accommodates scientific research, commercial honey production, education and public engagement within an approximately 1,300m² facility. Conceived as a living laboratory, the building makes the processes associated with beekeeping and pollinator research visible while maintaining the operational separation required by laboratories and production spaces.

 

Research and public education

The programme is organized around the relationship between the apiary, research laboratories and honey production areas. Circulation routes allow researchers and beekeepers to move efficiently between these functions, while guided tours follow a separate sequence from which visitors can observe honey extraction and processing without entering controlled areas or interfering with daily operations.

This organization was developed in collaboration with researchers, university staff and commercial beekeepers, incorporating their knowledge of equipment, working processes and operational requirements into the architectural layout.

Public engagement is concentrated in the Discovery Centre, a flexible space designed for exhibitions, workshops, lectures and educational events. Its direct relationship with a demonstration apiary extends teaching outdoors, allowing students, researchers and visitors to observe living bee colonies as part of the educational programme.

A ramp follows the natural topography of the site, creating an accessible route through the complex. At the main entrance, a broad canopy marks the transition into a naturally lit atrium and establishes a clear point of arrival within the landscape.

 

Architecture within a pollinator landscape

The centre occupies the site of a former tree nursery on the edge of the university campus. The intervention was developed to preserve significant existing trees and limit excavation, maintaining the relationship between the building and the adjacent urban forest.

Planting is treated as part of the environmental programme rather than simply as ornamental landscaping. Pollinator-friendly species are concentrated around the entrance and along the main pedestrian route, while the north façade incorporates a climbing-plant system conceived as a living wall. Plant selection throughout the site also supports local wildlife and reinforces the ecological role of the surrounding landscape.

The building envelope establishes a more abstract relationship with this setting. Folded metal cladding introduces a pronounced vertical rhythm across the elevations, referencing the trunks of the surrounding trees without directly imitating natural forms. Large areas of glazing bring daylight into the public spaces and strengthen visual connections between the interior, the apiary and the landscape.

Completed in May 2026, the Honey Bee Research Centre combines specialized scientific infrastructure with spaces intended to communicate research to a broader audience. By making the relationship between pollinators, agriculture and food production physically visible, the project expands the conventional research facility into an environment for education and public exchange.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elastic has received three distinctions at the AHEAD Americas 2026 Awards for the extensive redesign of Delano Miami Beach, marking a significant international recognition for the architecture and design studio within the hospitality sector.

The project was awarded in the Hotel Renovation and Lobby categories, while the redesigned Rose Bar received the award for Bar, Club or Lounge.

 

 

Reworking an established hospitality identity

Originally opened in 1947, Delano Miami Beach became an international hospitality reference point following its transformation in 1995. Its latest renovation addresses a property with an established architectural identity and a strong association with the cultural history of Miami Beach.

Elastic’s approach is based on retaining recognizable elements of the hotel while introducing a contemporary layer across its public areas, guestrooms and social spaces. Bespoke furniture, sculptural elements and artworks are integrated throughout the interiors, while the guestrooms are conceived as quieter spaces focused on privacy and retreat.

The Rose Bar, one of the hotel’s best-known spaces, has also been reinterpreted as part of the wider redesign. Its separate recognition at the AHEAD Americas Awards highlights the role of food, beverage and social spaces within the overall repositioning of the property.

 

 

International hospitality portfolio

The Delano Miami Beach project extends Elastic’s work within the international hospitality market. Founded by Ria Xenou and Alexandros Xenos, the studio’s portfolio includes collaborations with hospitality brands including Aman, One&Only, Rosewood, Four Seasons, Delano, Nobu and Nammos, with projects across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.

The hotel is owned by Cain International and operated by Ennismore. The three AHEAD Americas distinctions add to Elastic’s international track record and highlight the increasing geographical reach of a practice whose work combines architecture, interior design and the design of hospitality experiences.

 

Developed across a steep, densely planted hillside above Benitses, Angsana Corfu Resort & Spa combines the reconstruction of an existing 1970s hotel with a series of pool villas. The architecture follows the natural contours of the site, establishing successive relationships between the buildings, vegetation and views towards the Ionian Sea.

Terraced development

Angsana Corfu Resort & Spa is located on a 210,000m² hillside site above Benitses, overlooking the Ionian Sea. The project by ACM – ASARCH A. Sargentis Architects involved the extensive reconstruction of an existing hotel dating from the 1970s and its integration into a larger hospitality development.

The main hotel forms the centre of the complex, accommodating 159 rooms and suites, while 37 pool villas are distributed amphitheatrically across the surrounding slopes. The existing topography played a determining role in the organization of the development, allowing the different volumes to follow the terrain while maintaining views towards the sea and retaining much of the established vegetation.

 

Main building and circulation

The 22,850m² main building extends across seven levels. Its plan is structured around two elongated, perpendicular axes, with the principal entrance positioned on the northeast side and the main vertical circulation core located opposite it. Staircases and guest lifts connect the different levels with each other and with the outdoor areas.

The principal communal functions are concentrated on the first three levels and extend to the outdoor areas of the upper floor, while the guestrooms occupy four separate levels. Six different room typologies introduce variation to the accommodation programme.

The façades combine clear geometric surfaces with extensive areas of timber and glazing. Vertical timber screens positioned between guestrooms establish a repeated architectural rhythm while providing articulation and depth to the elevations. The material treatment also reinforces the connection between interior spaces, terraces and the surrounding landscape.

Villas within the landscape

Around the principal building, the pool villas form smaller clusters embedded into the hillside. Developed as one- or two-storey volumes, their architecture draws selectively on Corfiot building traditions without reproducing historical forms literally.

Pitched tiled roofs alternate with planted roofs, reducing the visual impact of the buildings when viewed from higher levels of the site. Private pools and outdoor living areas extend towards the landscape, while the villas are arranged to maintain views and privacy.

The road network similarly follows the contours of the terrain through a system of curved routes. This approach limits extensive alterations to the topography and enables existing planting to remain integrated into the development.

Through the combination of a large reconstructed hotel volume and smaller-scale accommodation units, the project establishes a gradual transition between architecture and the densely vegetated Corfiot hillside.

 

First print publication:ek magazine 262 | November 2021

Set among the vineyards of Salles-d’Angles near Cognac, Hennessy Village by Barbarito Bancel Architectes brings offices, dining and reception spaces together within a prefabricated timber structure.

 

Located at Hennessy’s bottling site in Salles-d’Angles, France, the new 4,068m² complex by Barbarito Bancel Architectes combines office, dining, exhibition and reception functions within a low timber structure. Completed in 2025, the project responds to the surrounding vineyard landscape through a horizontal organization that integrates working spaces, circulation and outdoor areas.

 

Landscape and building

The building is structured in three horizontal layers: a base associated with the terrain, the main occupied volume and an upper level defined by an extended canopy. Its timber structure is positioned lightly in relation to the ground, while covered transitional spaces mediate between the interiors and the landscape.

A regular column-and-beam grid organizes the main volume. Along the south façade, a continuous gallery of walkways adds depth to the envelope, combining circulation and informal shared areas with passive solar protection. Openings frame views across the vineyards, while the northern side is oriented towards a shared landscaped courtyard organized around a reflecting pool.

The entrance sequence also develops through the landscape. Paths from the parking area converge at a common forecourt before reaching the elevated entrance walkway. From this point, circulation extends both towards the courtyard and through the different levels of the building.

 

Timber structure and shared spaces

The prefabricated timber structure remains visible throughout the interiors, establishing a consistent spatial rhythm. Circulation areas are treated as occupied spaces rather than conventional corridors: successive colonnades accommodate coffee points, alcoves and communal tables, allowing informal meetings and everyday interaction to become part of the building’s organization. Natural ventilation is supported by the through-spaces connecting the two sides of the complex.

Larger collective functions interrupt the regular structural grid. The double-height Place du Village accommodates the main restaurant and gathering area beneath amber-toned glazing, while separate spaces are provided for tasting, dining and meetings with winegrowers. The deep red underside of the upper canopy introduces a chromatic reference to cognac without altering the predominantly natural material palette.

Timber is used as both structural system and interior finish, rather than as an applied decorative element. Together with acoustic treatment, solar control and the relationship between enclosed and semi-outdoor spaces, the material strategy contributes to the environmental performance of the complex. Hennessy Village has achieved HQE Excellent certification and the E+C− label.

 

See also: Office Building in Lille by Barbarito Bancel Architectes.

The conversion of an existing 2,000m² industrial complex creates a contemporary workplace where open-plan offices, visitor areas and logistics functions are combined with a material palette of cement mortar, timber, metal and glass, alongside a substantial energy and technological upgrade.

 

The KAFEA TERRA offices in Thessaloniki by IPODOMI occupy an existing industrial complex in Kalochori that was renovated and repurposed to accommodate the company’s new branch facilities. The 2,000m² programme combines offices with visitor and training areas, technical support spaces and a 1,000m² logistics warehouse, reorganizing three existing buildings around the requirements of a contemporary workplace.

The intervention addresses both the architectural shell and the internal organization. Large openings, new infill walls and a renewed façade increase the building’s openness, while the interior is structured around visual continuity, shared spaces and a restrained palette of materials.

 

Adapting an industrial complex

The change of use required significant modifications to the existing structures.

A 140m² metal mezzanine was introduced within one of the three buildings, while an accessible elevator was added to the central volume. New large-scale openings alter the relationship between interior and exterior, and the façades are unified through white aluminium composite panels.

Rather than concealing the industrial origin of the complex, the intervention uses its scale and existing structural logic as the basis for the new programme. The result is a series of larger, interconnected areas that can accommodate different modes of work while maintaining a clear overall organization.

 

Visitors below, offices above

The programme is distributed according to different levels of access and privacy.

The ground floor accommodates the functions addressed primarily to visitors: reception, a communal lounge, product display, seminar room and supporting employee facilities. These areas combine the company’s public-facing activities with spaces for training and presentation.

On the upper level, the administration offices and meeting room are arranged in an open-plan configuration. Glazed partitions provide acoustic and functional separation without interrupting visual continuity, while planted islands introduce softer elements between work zones.

The arrangement avoids a sequence of enclosed offices, favouring instead a more continuous working environment where transparency supports communication between teams.

 

Material continuity

The interior palette is deliberately limited to pressed cement mortar, timber, metal and glass.

The mineral character of the floor and wall surfaces is balanced by warmer timber elements, while black metal details give definition to furniture and partitions. Glass maintains openness between different functions and allows daylight to extend further into the plan.

Custom-designed furniture is integrated with KAFEA TERRA products and display elements, connecting the workplace with the company’s commercial identity without relying on extensive graphic branding.

The material strategy therefore operates at two levels: it preserves a degree of the industrial character of the existing shell while introducing the warmer and more controlled atmosphere required for offices, meetings and hospitality functions.

 

Energy and technological upgrade

The architectural renovation is accompanied by a broader upgrade of the building’s technical infrastructure.

A 100m² photovoltaic installation contributes to the building’s energy supply, while new VRV systems address heating and cooling requirements. Audiovisual equipment is connected through a centralized control system intended to simplify everyday operation.

The exterior areas were also reorganized, with new fencing, parking spaces equipped with electric-vehicle chargers and 430m² of planted beds. The additional landscape areas introduce greenery around the existing industrial complex and create visual connections from both visitor and employee spaces.

Through the combination of adaptive reuse, open-plan organization and technical upgrading, the project transforms a former industrial property into a workplace that accommodates administration, training, product presentation and logistics within a unified architectural framework.

 

The project was first published in print in ek290 | September 2024.

An expandable urban network connects more than 70 archaeological sites and monuments across Thessaloniki’s historic centre, using public space, pedestrian routes, landscape and a restrained architectural vocabulary to bring the city’s successive historical layers back into everyday life.

 

Armosi by Apostolopoulos Tasoulis is the first-prize proposal for the unification of Thessaloniki’s archaeological sites and monuments. Its name derives from the Greek word Άρμοση, referring to the act of joining, and summarizes the central ambition of the masterplan: to reconnect archaeological remains, monuments, neighbourhoods and contemporary public life within a coherent but expandable urban system.

Thessaloniki’s Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, Jewish and modern layers are often located only short distances apart, yet many of its monuments continue to be experienced as isolated fragments. The proposal addresses this discontinuity not through a single monumental intervention, but through a network capable of evolving gradually across the historic centre.

 

An expandable urban grid

The masterplan is structured around the historic axes that have shaped Thessaloniki over time, with Egnatia Street and its intersection with Aristotelous Street forming its principal organizing framework.

From these axes, complementary routes extend across the centre, connecting more than 70 monuments and archaeological sites. The network is conceived as an open system rather than a fixed final composition, allowing new links and interventions to be introduced over time.

This approach shifts attention from individual monuments towards the relationships between them. Streets, squares and neighbourhoods become part of the historical narrative, allowing different periods of the city to be experienced as interconnected layers rather than separate destinations.

 

Transforming the boundary into a joint

A central principle of Armosi is the reinterpretation of the boundary between archaeological sites and the contemporary city.

Existing enclosures and abrupt changes of level often reinforce the separation of monuments from everyday urban life. The proposal replaces this logic with carefully designed points of connection: new entrances, discreet boundaries and redesigned public spaces establish greater visual and physical continuity.

Where archaeological remains lie below present-day street level, accessible routes descend towards them, reducing the distance between contemporary circulation and the historical strata beneath it.

The “joint” consequently becomes both a spatial device and the underlying concept of the project: a point where different periods, uses and levels of the city can meet without losing their distinct identities.

 

A shared architectural language

Drawing on UNESCO’s Historic Urban Landscape approach, the masterplan treats cultural heritage as an active part of the contemporary city rather than as a collection of isolated objects requiring visual separation.

The design deliberately avoids adding further visual complexity to an already information-rich urban environment. Instead, a restrained toolkit establishes continuity across different sites.

A light-toned stone surface extends through streets and squares, accompanied by discreet lighting, signage and urban furniture. The elements provide a common architectural vocabulary while remaining adaptable to the spatial and historical conditions of each location.

The intention is not to create a new visual foreground, but to provide a quieter setting in which the existing monuments can become more legible.

 

Pedestrian movement and green corridors

Public space is reorganized around pedestrians and sustainable mobility.

Existing pedestrian areas are extended and connected with new traffic-calmed routes, creating a continuous network coordinated with the metro and the reorganized public transport system.

Planting also becomes an integral component of the masterplan. New green corridors and reinforced vegetation create shaded pedestrian routes, contribute to the urban microclimate and introduce additional natural elements into the dense historic fabric.

Beyond movement, the network can support different thematic and cultural itineraries. Monuments from distinct historical periods can therefore be connected through alternative routes, allowing Thessaloniki’s historical stratification to be explored through multiple narratives rather than a single prescribed sequence.

 

Site-specific interventions

The shared strategy is adapted at key archaeological sites rather than applied uniformly.

At the Rotunda and the Galerian Complex, the proposal seeks to re-establish the continuity of the historic imperial axis and strengthen its relationship with the surrounding city.

At the Roman Forum, a new axial entrance and a partially subterranean structure redefine access to the archaeological site and its relationship with contemporary street level.

These interventions illustrate the wider logic of Armosi: the masterplan provides a coherent framework, while each monument retains the capacity to respond to its own archaeological, topographical and urban conditions.

Rather than attempting to compete with Thessaloniki’s historical density, the proposal relies on precise and relatively restrained interventions. Through routes, thresholds, surfaces, planting and targeted architectural additions, Armosi seeks to reveal and reconnect what is already present.

A 200m² residence on a sloping site in Crete is organized around a triangular boundary of stone retaining walls, from which fragmented volumes, courtyards and semi-outdoor spaces extend gradually into the landscape.

Trihedron in Listaros by PT.a | Polychronakis Troullinos architects is a new 200m² residence currently in design. Set within a sloping landscape with expansive views, the proposal begins with a simple geometric operation: a triangular boundary formed by a sequence of stone retaining walls. Rather than defining a closed perimeter, this framework becomes the organizational structure from which the architecture develops.

The built volumes are fragmented, displaced and extended beyond the limits of the triangle, establishing a deliberate tension between geometric order and the irregularity of the terrain. The house consequently follows the natural slope instead of being treated as a single autonomous object placed upon it.

 

A triangular field

The triangular geometry establishes both the physical limits of the intervention and the underlying logic of the plan.

Stone retaining walls define circulation, thresholds and changes of level while anchoring the residence to the terrain. Within this framework, the individual volumes shift slightly in relation to one another and, at certain points, move beyond the initial geometric boundary.

The triangle therefore operates less as an outline than as a generative field. Its clarity provides order, while the displacement of the built elements introduces variation and adapts the composition to the topography.

This approach also reduces the perceived scale of the 200m² programme. Instead of forming a single continuous mass, the residence is read as a sequence of lower volumes following the slope and reinforcing its predominantly horizontal relationship with the landscape.

 

Solid and void

The spaces between the volumes are treated as an integral part of the architecture.

Courtyards, terraces and semi-outdoor areas occupy the intervals between the buildings and the retaining walls, allowing daylight, air and long views to penetrate deeply into the residence.

The distinction between interior and exterior is therefore gradually reduced. Movement through the house alternates between enclosed rooms, protected transitional areas and open spaces, producing a sequence in which the landscape remains continuously present.

Rather than concentrating outdoor living at the perimeter of the building, the proposal distributes it throughout the composition. Voids become part of the circulation and spatial organization, separating the individual volumes while connecting them visually.

 

Following the terrain

The fragmentation of the building responds directly to the inclination of the site.

Small shifts in plan and level allow the different volumes to follow the natural topography without requiring the residence to establish a single dominant datum. The stone retaining walls mediate between architecture and ground, combining the practical role of supporting the terrain with the spatial function of defining movement and outdoor areas.

The resulting composition develops as a series of interdependent parts rather than a single object. This reduces its visual presence while allowing the building to extend horizontally across the slope.

 

Stone and earth tones

The material palette reinforces the relationship with the immediate landscape.

Natural stone is used for the retaining walls that establish the project’s main geometric structure, while earth-toned surfaces reduce the contrast between the built volumes and the surrounding terrain.

Against this material continuity, the clean geometry of the individual volumes introduces a more abstract architectural language. The design therefore avoids a direct reproduction of local building forms, relying instead on stone, scale and the relationship with the ground to establish its connection with place.

Trihedron is ultimately structured around the interaction of two systems: the precision of a triangular geometry and the changing conditions of the natural slope. The retaining walls provide a stable framework, while the volumes, courtyards and terraces modify and extend it, transforming a simple geometric operation into a sequence of interconnected indoor, semi-outdoor and open spaces.

In Montreal’s Villeray neighbourhood, a new 549m² family residence uses an articulated envelope, a curved glass-block screen and a vertical sequence of light-filled spaces to negotiate privacy, daylight and the relationship between domestic life and the garden.

 

The Lens in Montreal by MU Architecture is a new family residence in the Villeray neighbourhood, designed for a couple and their children on a site previously occupied by another single-family house. Its replacement allowed the architects to reconsider the building’s position, orientation and internal organization from the outset, while responding to an urban plot bordered by a street to the south and alleys to the east and north.

The design draws on Japanese minimalism and principles of feng shui, translated less through stylistic references than through controlled circulation, filtered daylight and a gradual transition between more public and private areas. A mature white spruce at the corner of the property was retained and incorporated into the overall composition.

 

Privacy and natural light

The site offered abundant southern light but limited opportunities to withdraw from surrounding views.

MU Architecture responds with a composition of predominantly opaque volumes, interrupted by carefully positioned openings and intermediate spaces. Rather than opening the house indiscriminately towards the street, the envelope controls visibility while allowing daylight to penetrate the interior.

The defining element of the south façade is a curved wall of glass blocks. The translucent surface admits and diffuses light without providing direct views into the residence, establishing an intermediate condition between transparency and enclosure.

Its effect changes over the course of the day. From inside, daylight is softened before reaching the living spaces; from the street, the interior becomes a blurred luminous presence. At night, artificial light reverses the relationship, giving the corner of the house the appearance of a discreet lantern.

 

A layered domestic programme

The house is organized vertically, beginning with a sunken garage accessed by a sloping driveway.

Moving vehicle access below ground frees the main level for domestic use and creates a clear distinction between service functions and the principal living spaces. The basement is treated as more than a technical level: a generous mudroom connects the garage with the main staircase, while two guest suites provide an independent area for visitors.

A flexible room with its own access from the driveway can operate as a home office or meeting space, allowing professional use without bringing visitors through the private areas of the residence.

The ground floor forms the centre of family life. Kitchen, back kitchen, dining room and living room are organized as a continuous sequence, with the living area extending into a double-height volume. A children’s playroom and powder room complete the programme.

Towards the rear, the shared spaces open onto a covered veranda and garden, establishing a direct connection between daily domestic activities and the exterior.

 

Private spaces and vertical connections

The upper floor contains the more private functions.

Two children’s bedrooms share a bathroom, while a separate laundry room supports the family programme. The primary suite opens onto a private terrace above the veranda, retaining a direct relationship with the garden while remaining separated from the communal outdoor spaces below.

A large office occupies a mezzanine overlooking the double-height living room. This position connects work with the central domestic volume without enclosing it within a conventional room.

A second staircase continues upwards to a rooftop lounge and terrace, adding another external space within the dense urban setting.

 

Glass blocks as an environmental filter

The curved glass-block wall becomes the project’s most recognizable architectural element, but its role is primarily environmental and spatial.

Its translucent surface provides privacy from the street and neighbouring properties while capturing southern light. The constantly changing degree of brightness gives depth to the front of the house and creates a softer boundary than either a conventional solid wall or clear glazing.

The reference to Japanese shoji screens is expressed through this filtered condition: light is admitted without the exterior becoming fully visible.

Alongside it, beige concrete brick volumes alternate between sharper and rounded corners, producing a more solid outer layer that mediates between the residence and the surrounding urban fabric.

 

An interior organized by material and light

The interior uses a limited palette of walnut, oak, porcelain and brushed brass.

In the kitchen and dining area, a monolithic suspended hood defines the island, while a sequence of fluted timber pendant lights introduces a more detailed scale above the dining area. The glass-block wall remains visible from within, distributing diffuse daylight across the timber floor.

A floating white steel staircase with glass balustrades links the principal levels around a vertical void. The opening allows natural light to travel through the section of the house and maintains visual relationships between floors.

The bathrooms continue the restrained palette with beige porcelain and brushed brass fittings, while the primary suite incorporates both a walk-in shower and a steam shower.

 

Extending the house into the garden

At the rear, the architecture opens substantially towards the landscape.

The garden by Atelier Friche is characterized by grasses and perennial planting, with a dark-bottomed swimming pool reflecting the changing sky. A covered terrace equipped with an outdoor kitchen extends the main living areas outside, while a green roof continues above it.

The contrast between the more protected street façade and the open garden elevation establishes the main spatial logic of the house: enclosure and filtered light towards the city, greater transparency towards the private landscape.

The Lens consequently uses its envelope not simply to define an architectural image, but to regulate privacy, daylight and movement. Through the glass-block screen, the vertical void and the successive connections to terraces and garden, the residence organizes family life around varying degrees of openness rather than a simple division between inside and outside.

On the edge of a gorge in the Mani Peninsula, two centuries-old stone structures are restored and connected to form Paratiritirio, a family retreat where the local building tradition meets references to Thai, Moroccan and wider Mediterranean material culture.

 

Paratiritirio in Isna, Mani by ETSI Architects occupies two existing stone structures positioned directly above a steep gorge. Conceived as a meeting place for three generations of an American-Thai family, the project stabilizes and reconnects the historic buildings while introducing only one substantial new built element: a double-height entrance volume that organizes circulation between the upper and lower levels.

The renovation retains the weight and irregularity of the existing masonry, while new insertions establish a contemporary domestic programme around views towards the gorge and the sea. The steep surrounding terrain is incorporated into the spatial sequence, allowing interior rooms, terraces and garden levels to operate as parts of a continuous route.

 

Connecting two historic structures

The project begins with two independent vernacular buildings that had stood side by side for centuries.

Rather than erasing their separation, the intervention uses the gap between them to create the new entrance. This infill volume forms a double-height vestibule containing the main vertical circulation and becomes the principal point from which the house is understood.

A new timber-clad terrace extends from this threshold towards the gorge, immediately establishing the landscape as a central reference.

Access to the house is equally deliberate. A narrow path follows the rocky edge of the site before reaching the entrance, turning arrival into a gradual transition from the village and terrain to the interior.

 

A continuous route on the upper level

On the upper floor, interior and exterior circulation form a loop.

From the entrance mezzanine, the route passes through the living room, dining area and kitchen before reaching the roof of the former underground water reservoir. This is transformed into a raised, stone-built outdoor sitting area, positioned to take advantage of long views across the gorge.

A second route leads directly from the entrance towards the upper bedroom through a more discreet service corridor. The bedroom, in turn, opens through a wall-to-wall aperture onto another elevated outdoor lounge.

The house is therefore organized less as a conventional sequence of enclosed rooms than as a network of interconnected interior and exterior spaces.

 

Reusing the underground cistern

The lower level develops a more introverted atmosphere while maintaining selected visual connections with the landscape.

A relaxed “boys-and-books” room contains two sofa beds and small openings within the stone wall overlooking the gorge. From there, circulation continues to a vaulted bedroom, where a single window concentrates the distant view.

The central intervention at this level is the conversion of the existing water reservoir into an indoor swimming pool. Rather than removing the cistern, the architects retain and adapt it as one of the most distinctive spaces of the residence.

Indirect lighting emphasizes the enclosure and material character of the former reservoir. The pool also has independent access from the lower garden level, beside an open bathroom and shower, creating a direct relationship between the underground interior and the landscape outside.

 

Local construction and cultural references

The material palette deliberately combines elements associated with Mani with references drawn from the family’s different cultural backgrounds.

Existing stone walls are retained as the primary architectural material, while aged oak flooring and the timber roof reinforce the tactile character of the historic structures. Bronze details, reclaimed walnut panels and handcrafted Moroccan zellige tiles introduce additional layers without obscuring the original construction.

On the lower level, polished concrete floors establish a more restrained base alongside the stone masonry. Jade green and burgundy accents, white marble and timber furniture add colour and differentiate the individual rooms.

The result is not a uniform restoration palette, but a controlled coexistence of materials from different origins.

 

An India Yellow landmark

Externally, the house is distinguished by its India Yellow façade, a colour associated with the building’s earlier identity and retained as a recognizable presence within the village of Isna.

The colour differentiates the residence from the grey and earth-toned landscape without weakening the prominence of the original stone construction. Together with the restored timber elements and the limited new additions, it makes the different temporal layers of the building legible.

Paratiritirio ultimately treats restoration as a process of connection: between two existing structures, between interior and exterior routes, between a former water reservoir and a new domestic use, and between the architectural traditions of Mani and the cultural background of the family.

 

The project was first published in print in Maison de Campagne 2024.

In the traditional village of Vlachokerasia, a contemporary residence reconnects its owner with a family site in Arcadia, organizing private and communal functions on two levels while using stone, large openings and a restrained material palette to establish continuity between memory, architecture and landscape.

 

Patrion House in Arcadia by OfficeTwentyFiveArchitects is located in the traditional village of Vlachokerasia, on a plot closely connected with the owner’s family history. The site once contained the ruins of his great-grandfather’s home, making the new residence not simply an intervention in the Arcadian landscape but also a return to a place of personal and generational significance.

The architecture responds to this context through a clear two-level organization, extensive use of stone and large openings towards the surrounding terrain. Rather than reproducing local building forms literally, the project establishes continuity through material, proportion and its direct relationship with the landscape.

 

Private spaces within the terrain

The residence is organized across two levels according to a clear distinction between private and communal functions.

The lower level accommodates the quieter areas of the house, including the bedrooms and a playroom. Its position gives these spaces a more protected character and strengthens their relationship with the terrain.

Above, the communal functions are brought together around the kitchen and living room. Their arrangement around a central core creates a more open setting for daily life and social interaction, establishing a deliberate contrast with the more enclosed character of the lower level.

The vertical distribution therefore does more than separate functions: it creates two different spatial conditions, moving from retreat and privacy below to openness and gathering above.

 

Stone as a connecting material

Stone defines both the exterior character and the principal interior surfaces of the house.

Its continuous use across the envelope and selected internal walls reinforces the relationship between architecture and place while creating a material link between the site’s past and its contemporary occupation.

Rather than being treated as a decorative finish, stone gives the residence weight and a sense of permanence. Against it, large glazed openings introduce a contrasting degree of transparency, drawing daylight deep into the interior and opening uninterrupted views towards the Arcadian landscape.

The combination of solid stone surfaces and expansive glazing becomes the project’s principal architectural contrast: enclosure and exposure, material density and visual openness.

 

A restrained interior palette

The interior design by Stones & Walls follows the same restrained approach.

A soft, neutral palette is developed through wood, stone and metal, complemented by lighter textures and contemporary detailing. The interiors avoid excessive ornament, allowing the material qualities of the architecture and the views beyond the openings to remain prominent.

The use of timber introduces warmth alongside the more mineral character of the stone, while dark metal elements provide sharper accents and define individual details.

At the centre of the living area, a cast-iron fireplace operates as the principal focal point. Its strong material presence anchors the communal space without competing with the surrounding landscape.

 

Landscape, memory and contemporary living

The character of Patrion House emerges from the relationship between three elements: the family history associated with the site, the physical presence of the Arcadian landscape and the requirements of contemporary domestic life.

The residence does not attempt to reconstruct the past formally. Instead, OfficeTwentyFiveArchitects use the material continuity of stone, the organization of the house within the terrain and the framing of long views to establish a more indirect connection with the place’s history.

Inside, Stones & Walls extend this approach through a limited palette that remains closely tied to the architectural materials. The result is a residence where the distinction between tradition and contemporary design is deliberately softened: stone and landscape provide continuity, while generous openings, clear spatial organization and restrained detailing establish its present-day character.

 

The project was first published in print in Maison de Campagne 2025.

Simultaneous heating and cooling with reduced refrigerant charge and greater installation flexibility

Panasonic Heating & Cooling Solutions expands its VRF portfolio with the new ECOi EX MF4 series using R32 refrigerant. Designed for commercial buildings requiring simultaneous heating and cooling, the three-pipe heat recovery system combines high seasonal efficiency, reduced refrigerant charge and compact dimensions with increased flexibility for complex HVAC installations.

 

Greater efficiency with less refrigerant

A key feature of the ECOi EX MF4 series is the optimized refrigerant charge. According to Panasonic, the use of R32 allows the system to operate with 41% less refrigerant than an equivalent R410A system, based on internal testing of a 12HP model with 80m of piping.

The reduced refrigerant requirement is combined with heat recovery, allowing different zones of the same building to be heated and cooled simultaneously. This makes the system particularly relevant to commercial applications where thermal requirements can vary significantly between spaces and throughout the day.

 

High seasonal efficiency across a wide temperature range

The series is designed to maintain performance under significantly different climatic conditions.

For the U-10MF4E8 model, seasonal efficiency reaches 308.3% in cooling mode and 171% in heating mode. The operating range extends from -20°C in heating to +52°C in cooling, supporting year-round use in locations subject to both low winter temperatures and demanding summer conditions.

The combination of heat recovery and broad operating limits allows the system to address projects where different orientations, uses and occupancy patterns create simultaneous heating and cooling requirements.

 

Compact dimensions and installation flexibility

The new generation also focuses on reducing the space required for mechanical equipment.

Depending on the model and configuration, the installation footprint can be reduced by up to 43% compared with previous generations. A lighter chassis facilitates transportation and handling, while the more compact dimensions can simplify integration into buildings where available plant space is limited.

For larger or more complex projects, the system supports a total piping length of up to 500m, allowing greater freedom in the positioning of indoor and outdoor units.

This flexibility is particularly relevant to commercial buildings where HVAC design must respond to multiple zones, long distribution routes and restrictions imposed by the architecture or existing technical infrastructure.

 

Safety and system integration

The ECOi EX MF4 series has been developed around the requirements associated with R32 refrigerant.

Panasonic states that its safety devices comply with the relevant requirements of CEI EN 60335-2-40 and EN 378 (ISO 5149), supporting the integration of the system into contemporary commercial applications.

The wider ECOi EX platform also provides different connectivity and control options, allowing HVAC systems to be incorporated into centralized or remote building management strategies.

 

Indoor air quality and comfort

Compatible air-to-air indoor units are equipped with Panasonic’s nanoe™ X technology, developed to support improved indoor air quality in conditioned spaces.

The system can also be combined with different ventilation solutions, enabling designers and installers to approach cooling, heating, ventilation and indoor environmental quality as parts of an integrated HVAC strategy.

With the ECOi EX MF4 series, Panasonic Heating & Cooling Solutions places the emphasis on the combination of energy performance, reduced refrigerant charge, compact equipment and system flexibility, addressing the technical demands of contemporary commercial buildings.

 

Panasonic

 

Three independent residences on a steep plot in Trikala, Corinthia, reinterpret the archetypal mountain house through local stone, glass and a careful response to the natural terrain, maintaining privacy while opening uninterrupted views towards the Corinthian Gulf.

 

Slope in Trikala, Corinthia by gnb architects is a small complex of three independent residences positioned on a steep site at the edge of the lower district of Trikala. The plot opens towards the eastern horizon, with uninterrupted views across the opposite mountain slopes and towards the Corinthian Gulf, making topography, orientation and visual continuity the principal parameters of the composition.

The project seeks to reinterpret characteristics of the local mountain architecture through a reduced contemporary vocabulary. Rather than reproducing vernacular forms, the design simplifies the archetypal mountain dwelling and limits its architectural expression to a small number of materials and clearly defined volumes.

 

Following the natural slope

The arrangement of the three residences is determined directly by the terrain.

To reduce the footprint of the construction and adapt the buildings to the steep gradient, two units are joined at the highest part of the plot, while the third is positioned farther down the slope.

The displacement creates sufficient distance between the residences to ensure privacy, while preventing the lower unit from interrupting the views of those above. Instead of establishing a single continuous building front, the complex follows the descending geometry of the site.

The architecture consequently becomes part of the slope rather than an independent object imposed upon it.

 

A simplified mountain archetype

The form of each residence is derived from the reduction of a familiar mountain-house typology to its most essential elements.

A simple stone volume is protected by a pitched tiled roof, establishing a direct reference to the built character of the wider area. The reference, however, is deliberately abstracted. Ornament and secondary formal gestures are removed, leaving the volume, roof and openings to define the architectural identity.

Three sides of each residence remain predominantly solid, with relatively few and small openings. This allows the local stonework to retain a sense of weight and enclosure.

The eastern elevation follows the opposite principle.

 

Stone and glass

Towards the horizon, the solid envelope opens almost completely.

The eastern wall of each residence is replaced by a large glazed surface, creating direct visual continuity between the interior and the distant landscape. The contrast establishes the main architectural logic of the project: local stone represents mass and enclosure, while glass introduces transparency and openness.

The two materials are not used as surface treatments but as complementary spatial conditions.

From the side and rear elevations, the residences appear compact and grounded. From the east, the volume becomes substantially lighter, with the interior exposed towards the view and natural light entering across the full width of the façade.

This sharp distinction between solid and transparent surfaces gives the otherwise restrained buildings their contemporary character.

 

Suspended above the terrain

The eastern side of each residence extends into an outdoor living area.

Lightweight metal balconies with timber decking project beyond the building line and above the steeply descending ground. Their construction deliberately contrasts with the heavier stone volumes behind them.

Because of the inclination of the plot, these platforms are elevated among the surrounding vegetation, creating the sensation of being suspended between the branches of the taller trees and the open sky.

The outdoor spaces consequently operate as an extension of the glazed eastern elevations, bringing everyday use closer to the landscape while maintaining a relatively limited physical intervention on the terrain.

 

A contemporary reading of local architecture

Slope is based on a restricted architectural vocabulary: stone, glass, tiled roofs and lightweight metal structures.

The project does not attempt to imitate the traditional architecture of mountainous Corinthia. Instead, gnb architects isolate some of its most recognizable characteristics—the compact stone volume, the pitched roof and the relationship with the slope—and rework them according to contemporary requirements for light, openness and visual connection.

The placement of the three residences follows the terrain, while the contrast between the enclosed stone sides and the fully glazed eastern elevations establishes a clear relationship between protection and view.

Through this combination, the complex retains a strong connection with the material and morphological character of the region while responding directly to the particular qualities of its steep site.

 

The project was first published in print in Maison de Campagne 2024.

The conversion of the former Xenia hotel in Florina into The Lynx Mountain Resort combines structural and functional upgrading with a new relationship to the surrounding forest landscape, opening the existing building towards distant views while retaining its original architectural identity.

 

The Lynx Mountain Resort in Florina by De.Ar Architects transforms the former Xenia hotel through an extensive architectural intervention that addresses the existing structure, the guestrooms and public areas, as well as the building’s relationship with its densely wooded setting. The renovation upgraded the hotel from three to four stars, reorganizing its capacity to 38 rooms and 98 beds while introducing new hospitality and leisure functions.

Rather than replacing the existing building with an autonomous new composition, the project works with its original volume and structural logic. The intervention opens the previously more enclosed envelope towards the mountain and the city, using large glazed surfaces, successive outdoor areas and a new architectural layer that gives the complex a more unified contemporary identity.

 

Transforming the existing Xenia

The modernization required substantial work on the original building.

The existing structural system was comprehensively reinforced, while the roof was reconstructed with a new metal frame and asphalt shingles. New mechanical and electrical installations were incorporated, and the basement was extended to support the upgraded programme.

The architectural strategy nevertheless remains focused on the existing building rather than on the visibility of these technical interventions. Its original geometry provides the basis for the new composition, while additions are used to improve functionality, environmental performance and the relationship between interior and exterior.

The redistribution of the programme accompanies the hotel’s upgrade. Guest capacity was reduced in order to provide larger rooms and enhanced common facilities, including reception, dining and leisure areas, alongside the casino and other complementary functions.

 

Opening the building towards the landscape

A central objective of the design is to integrate the hotel into its forest setting while making the surrounding landscape more present within the architecture.

Large sliding glazed openings replace more limited visual connections, extending views towards the hill, the city of Florina and the distant horizon. Glass balustrades on successive levels preserve these sightlines, reducing the visual weight of the boundaries between the rooms, terraces and landscape.

A lightweight external construction of metal and glass is introduced as a new layer around parts of the existing shell. Combined with the thermal upgrading of the façades, it allows daylight to penetrate deeper into the building and establishes a stronger degree of openness without erasing the original structure.

The new elevation consequently operates as both environmental envelope and visual filter, bringing the different periods of the building into a more coherent whole.

 

A restrained mountain materiality

The external material palette responds to the strong seasonal changes of the Florina landscape.

Earth-toned surfaces are combined with darker textures on the roof and metal elements, allowing the building to sit more quietly against the wooded terrain. The envelope was also designed in response to the considerable temperature differences that characterize the region throughout the year.

The contrast between transparent and solid surfaces gives depth to the façades. Glazing reflects the surrounding vegetation and sky, while darker structural and cladding elements reinforce the horizontal and vertical lines of the composition.

The resulting architecture maintains the robust character required by the mountain climate while becoming substantially more open than the former hotel.

 

Interiors between view and privacy

The interior design by thingk interiors develops the same relationship with the landscape through a warmer and more tactile material palette.

In the guestrooms, the design gives priority to the views while maintaining privacy. Darker elements frame the openings and built-in functions, while walnut timber, stone and metal establish a contemporary interpretation of a mountain interior without relying on literal rustic references.

Wall coverings, carpets and textiles introduce softer surfaces and warm tonal variations. Direct and indirect lighting are combined with carefully controlled decorative elements, creating an atmosphere that balances comfort with the more rigorous geometry of the architecture.

The public areas adopt a more open spatial character. Transparency, continuous surfaces and permeable divisions reinforce the sense of spaciousness and visual connection with the exterior, while the darker palette of selected architectural elements provides continuity between the different functions.

 

Landscape as an extension of the forest

The landscape design develops a dialogue between the linear geometry of the architecture and the less regular structure of the surrounding vegetation.

Paving strips, prismatic planters with concealed linear lighting and canopies establish a system of clear reference points around the building. Their linearity remains legible both during the warmer months and when the landscape is covered by snow.

Planting follows a more fluid logic. Rather than creating an isolated ornamental garden, new vegetation is conceived as an extension of the wider forest ecosystem. Existing mature planting is retained where possible, preserving both ecological continuity and long views towards the horizon.

The outdoor spaces consequently mediate between the rebuilt hotel and the surrounding terrain rather than separating the two.

 

A renewed relationship with place

The transformation of The Lynx Mountain Resort is based on the reuse and substantial upgrading of an existing hospitality building.

Structural reinforcement, a reconstructed roof, new building services and a reworked envelope address the technical demands of the conversion, while the architectural strategy concentrates on reopening the former Xenia towards its surroundings.

Through glazing, lighter external structures, a restrained material palette and a landscape scheme that continues the character of the forest, De.Ar Architects redefine the hotel as a more outward-looking building. The interior design reinforces this approach through natural materials, visual continuity and an emphasis on the relationship between the guestrooms, common areas and the landscape of Florina.

 

The project was first published in print in ek252 | November 2020.

Set against the dense fir forest of Parnassos, Hermitage 1310 organizes eight independent residences within two pitched-roof volumes, using extensive glazing, local stone, timber and black metal to establish a continuous visual relationship between domestic space and the mountain landscape.

 

Hermitage 1310 in Parnassos by Yiorgis Lampathakis is conceived around the experience of living within the forest, away from the busier settlements of the wider Arachova area. The dense fir trees and the morphology of the green ravine become the principal references for the design, with transparency used to bring the landscape visually into the interiors.

Extensive glazed surfaces open the residences towards the wooded slopes, reducing the visual boundary between inside and outside. The surrounding landscape is therefore not treated as a backdrop to the architecture, but as a constant presence within everyday life.

 

Two volumes on the slope

The complex consists of two building volumes, both defined by pitched roofs. Each contains four independent residences of 80m², organized vertically across three levels.

The steep terrain determines the system of access. Entry takes place from the higher side of the slope by means of metal bridges leading directly to the intermediate level of each residence. This central floor accommodates the shared living and dining functions and develops partly as a double-height space.

Above it, a bedroom and bathroom are positioned on a mezzanine overlooking the main living area. At ground level, depending on the residence type, the programme includes either two bedrooms with bathroom facilities or one larger bedroom with its own bathroom.

The section therefore allows the residences to follow the topography while preserving open visual connections between their different levels and the forest beyond.

 

Stone, timber, metal and glass

The material palette combines local grey stone, timber, black metal and glass.

Stone gives weight to the lower and more enclosed parts of the volumes, while timber is used on roofs and floors. Black metal defines balconies, entrance bridges and a series of smaller architectural details. Against these solid materials, the unusually large glazed elevations create direct visual contact with the surrounding vegetation.

Custom-made elements developed from standard industrial steel sections extend this material language into the interiors. Produced through conventional metalworking techniques, they serve as storage elements, partitions and small pieces of furniture. Ski racks are incorporated directly into the railings of the entrance bridges, connecting everyday mountain activities with the architecture itself.

 

A restrained interior

The interior design remains deliberately limited in order to preserve the sense of openness.

Light timber chairs are paired with black metal dining tables, while sofas and rugs draw their colours from the surrounding landscape. The interiors avoid unnecessary visual density, allowing the material character of stone, timber and metal to remain clear.

At the centre of each double-height living space, a black metal wood-burning stove establishes a vertical reference point. Its chimney emphasizes the height of the room without obstructing the view, while the large glazed elevation directs attention towards the wooded slope.

Thin linear lighting elements on walls and ceilings provide discreet illumination and reinforce the perspective towards the forest after dark.

 

The landscape as part of daily life

Transparency remains the project’s most important spatial device.

From the central living areas to the bedrooms and circulation spaces, large areas of glazing maintain continuous visual contact with the surrounding vegetation. The architecture frames the landscape while allowing changes in weather, light and season to become part of the interior atmosphere.

The external landscape design follows the same restrained approach, allowing the buildings to remain closely connected with the existing forest character rather than establishing an autonomous ornamental garden.

Rainwater and melting snow collected from the timber roofs are directed to an underground cistern and reused. Exterior lighting is similarly kept to a minimum, maintaining the darker atmosphere of the forest and limiting its impact on the immediate environment.

Hermitage 1310 therefore combines a compact residential programme with a strong sectional response to the mountain terrain. Through transparency, material restraint and carefully controlled interventions, the buildings establish a direct relationship with the forest while maintaining the comfort and privacy required for residential use.

 

The project was first published in print in ek273 | December 2022.

A 90m² apartment in Thiseio is renovated through selective retention rather than complete replacement, restoring its original parquet and marble floors while introducing palladiana made from marble offcuts, limewashed walls and a discreet upgrade of the existing building fabric.

 

The Thiseio Residence in Athens by Fineline Studio occupies a 90m² apartment from the 1960s, a few streets below the Acropolis. Rather than stripping the interior back to the concrete frame, the renovation begins with the material qualities already present in the apartment, restoring original parquet and marble floors and limiting new interventions to those required for its new use as short-term accommodation.

The existing apartment is treated as a material resource rather than an obsolete shell. Original surfaces are repaired where possible, while new elements are designed to complement rather than conceal them.

 

Restoring the existing floors

The most important material decision concerns the floor. Beneath later laminate finishes, the architects uncovered the apartment’s original parquet and marble surfaces. Instead of removing them, they were repaired and retained as part of the new interior.

Where new flooring was necessary, palladiana was laid using marble offcuts that would otherwise have been discarded. The technique recalls a material language once common in the Athenian polykatoikia, but is reintroduced here through reclaimed stone rather than as a nostalgic reproduction.

Old and new flooring meet on the same plane, allowing the transition between the original apartment and the contemporary intervention to remain clearly visible.

 

Palladiana from marble offcuts

The new palladiana provides both a practical and a material connection with the existing apartment. Fragments of marble in varying shapes and tones are incorporated into the floor rather than being discarded.

Their irregular composition contrasts with the linear geometry of the restored parquet while sharing a common mineral character with the existing marble. The distinction between preserved and newly introduced materials therefore remains legible without interrupting the continuity of the interior.

 

Few new elements, multiple functions

The apartment was prepared as a short-term let for a boutique hospitality developer, leading to a deliberately limited number of new additions. Open wardrobes reduce the need for extensive new joinery, while limewashed walls provide a simple, tactile finish.

Microcement is used in the bathrooms and on the kitchen counters, creating continuous surfaces that remain visually restrained against the retained floors.

A single integrated bench defines the edge between the kitchen, dining and living areas. Combining seating with storage, it organises the shared space without introducing an additional partition, concentrating several domestic functions within a small number of architectural elements.

 

Upgrading the existing fabric

A significant part of the renovation remains largely invisible. New glazing, insulation and upgraded building services are incorporated within the existing fabric without changing the material character of the apartment.

According to the project data, these interventions reduce operational energy demand by 46% and remove the need for oil-fired heating. The environmental upgrade is achieved primarily through improvements to the building envelope and technical systems rather than through a visibly technological interior, allowing the retained parquet, marble and existing spatial character to remain central to the project.

 

Reuse as a design method

The Thiseio Residence is defined less by the addition of new materials than by the decision to retain what was already available. Original parquet and marble floors remain visible, reclaimed marble becomes new palladiana, and a limited palette of limewash and microcement provides a quiet background for the existing fabric.

Fineline Studio uses the renovation to demonstrate how a typical Athenian apartment can be updated without erasing the material evidence of its period. New elements are concentrated where they are functionally necessary, while the existing construction is treated as the starting point of the design rather than as something to be removed.

The result is a contemporary interior in which the distinction between preserved and newly introduced materials remains deliberately legible.

A 3,100m² workplace for BESTSECRET in Munich translates the fashion platform’s restrained visual identity into a spatial environment defined by exposed concrete, mirrored surfaces, timber, textiles and flexible zones for collaborative and focused work.

 

The new BESTSECRET offices in Munich by HENN occupy seven floors of a building designed by LRO Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei at the iCampus near Ostbahnhof. Completed in 2024, the 3,100m² interior accommodates around 125 employees and translates the identity of the online members-only fashion platform into a physical workplace through a restrained palette, contrasting textures and an emphasis on transparency.

Facing the city centre from the northern edge of the development, the building opens towards the Werksviertel and, in the distance, the Alps. The interior responds to this urban position by placing more open and communicative functions towards the active city side, while spaces requiring greater concentration are located along the quieter edge.

 

From digital identity to physical space

BESTSECRET’s digital platform is characterised by a reduced visual language intended to provide a neutral setting for multiple fashion brands. The interior follows a similar principle.

Warm grey walls, exposed concrete ceilings and light-grey seamless floors establish a restrained background rather than competing with the people, furniture and objects occupying the workplace. Reflective and mirrored surfaces extend the perceived dimensions of the spaces, while an extensive use of textiles introduces a direct reference to the fashion industry.

The material language relies on deliberate contrasts. Cool mirror surfaces are paired with warm timber; galvanised metal and exposed concrete are offset by curtains, upholstery and custom-made wooden furniture. The result is a workplace where industrial materials coexist with softer elements associated with domestic interiors.

 

Transparency across the floors

Despite differences in programme, the seven levels share a consistent principle of openness. Glazed partitions create visual continuity across each floor and allow views to extend from the centre of the building towards the exterior. The workplace is therefore divided functionally without becoming a sequence of isolated rooms.

On the ground floor, the boardroom is positioned so that it remains visible from outside and directly addresses the city. Opposite it, a lounge kitchen with a large communal table provides an informal meeting point for employees working on different floors. The lower level thus becomes both a representative and a collective part of the workplace.

 

Different settings for different ways of working

The upper floors introduce a broader range of working environments. Communicative co-working zones are complemented by quieter think-tank rooms intended for focused tasks. Floor-to-ceiling curtains allow these areas to be subdivided further, so the spatial arrangement can respond to changing requirements without relying exclusively on fixed partitions.

The distribution of functions is linked to the building’s orientation: open collaborative areas face the more active city centre, while rooms for individual concentration occupy the quieter side. Rather than organising the workplace around a uniform desk layout, the project creates a sequence of settings for different forms of work, communication and retreat.

 

Contrasting material qualities

Material contrast becomes one of the main tools for differentiating these settings while maintaining a coherent identity. Exposed concrete and galvanised metal retain the direct character of the architectural shell. Against them, custom-made timber furniture extends along the perimeter walls, incorporating benches, shelving and other smaller-scale functions.

Textiles soften the more industrial surfaces both acoustically and visually, while curtains operate simultaneously as material elements and as flexible spatial boundaries. The contrast between rigid and soft, reflective and matte, raw and finished surfaces gives the interior variation without requiring a broad material palette.

 

A workplace organised around openness

The BESTSECRET offices combine a lobby, workspaces, meeting rooms, a lounge kitchen, coffee bars and an event area within the seven-storey interior. HENN approaches these programmes through transparency, flexible zoning and a clear distinction between collaborative and focused environments.

The company’s restrained digital identity is translated into architecture not through literal branding, but through the controlled use of colour, material and reflective surfaces. The result is a workplace in which the neutral background associated with BESTSECRET’s online platform becomes a framework for everyday activity, while timber, textiles and communal spaces introduce a more informal dimension to the corporate interior.

A compact black volume at the Autonomous University of Durango uses permeable metal screens, suspended external staircases and a planted entrance threshold to regulate daylight, natural ventilation and the transition between the campus and its laboratories.

 

Torre Negra in Durango by Jonathan Corral Arquitectos is a 1,094.40m² laboratory building within the Alamedas Campus of the Autonomous University of Durango. Developed between 2024 and 2025, the project accommodates laboratories for different disciplines within a compact volume that establishes a recognizable presence while remaining connected to the academic structure of the campus.

The architecture is organized around the contrast between a dense black envelope and a series of permeable elements. Metal screens regulate solar exposure, daylight and ventilation, while suspended staircases extend circulation towards the exterior. At ground level, rosemary, lavender and water features establish a softer landscape threshold before entering the building.

 

A planted threshold

The arrival sequence deliberately contrasts the material density of the building with the landscape surrounding its entrance.

Rosemary and lavender are combined with water features to create a planted transition between the campus and the laboratory building. Rather than approaching the black volume directly, users move through a softer foreground that slows the transition towards the interior.

The landscape therefore becomes part of the architectural sequence. Its lower scale, texture and sensory character establish a counterpoint to the abstract geometry and dark materiality of Torre Negra.

 

A façade that filters light and air

The principal façade is defined by a continuous metal screen.

The system limits direct solar exposure while allowing diffused daylight and natural ventilation to reach the interior. Selected elements are rotated slightly from the main plane, introducing controlled irregularities into the otherwise repetitive surface.

These variations create changing degrees of opacity and transparency according to the position of the viewer and the angle of light. The envelope consequently performs both an environmental and compositional role.

Rather than treating solar control as an additional technical layer, the project incorporates it into the primary architectural expression of the building.

 

Suspended staircases as intermediate spaces

The vertical circulation is positioned partly outside the main volume through a system of suspended metal staircases.

These elements do more than connect the different levels. Their partially exposed configuration places circulation between interior and exterior, allowing views towards the surrounding campus while users move vertically through the building.

The staircases therefore extend the spatial experience beyond the enclosed laboratories. They introduce moments of exposure, changing light and visual contact with the exterior within an otherwise compact building.

 

Permeability towards the campus

The secondary façade, facing the interior of the university campus, follows the same environmental logic.

Metal slats create a surface that appears comparatively solid from a distance but becomes permeable at closer range. The system supports cross-ventilation while maintaining visual continuity with the internal circulation areas.

The contrast between apparent mass and actual permeability becomes one of the defining characteristics of Torre Negra.

The building can therefore maintain the visual strength of a compact black volume without becoming environmentally or spatially sealed from its surroundings.

 

An active envelope

The project concentrates much of its architectural identity in the treatment of the building envelope.

Repetition establishes order, while small rotations and changes in permeability introduce variation. The same elements that give the façades their distinctive appearance also regulate sunlight, ventilation and visual relationships between the laboratories and the campus.

Jonathan Corral Arquitectos use a limited set of operations—screening, repetition, suspension and controlled permeability—to respond simultaneously to climatic, functional and spatial requirements.

Torre Negra consequently operates as a compact technical building whose architectural expression emerges from the performance of its envelope rather than from applied formal gestures.

A 1960s public building in central Athens is converted into a 24-room boutique hotel, with a new planted façade, an open ground floor connected to the city and guestrooms organized around Greek materials and subdued natural tones.

 

The Social Athens Hotel by OOAK Architects transforms a public building dating from the 1960s into a contemporary 24-room boutique hotel. The 1,370m² project is organized over eight levels, combining accommodation with restaurant, reception and fitness functions while establishing a more direct relationship between the building and the surrounding city.

The intervention develops two distinct conditions. At street level, the hotel opens towards public life through its restaurant and the existing arcade. Above, the guestrooms become progressively more private, while the new white façade uses undulating surfaces, planting and changing light to establish a recognizable identity within the urban fabric.

 

A new façade towards the city

The existing building acquires a completely new external identity.

The white façade introduces a sequence of undulating forms whose perception changes according to daylight and shadow. References to classical Greek architecture remain abstract, translated through repetition, depth and the contrast between illuminated and shaded surfaces.

Instead of the projecting balconies typical of Athenian apartment buildings, planting is integrated directly into the façade. Vegetation forms an intermediate layer between the guestrooms and the city, increasing privacy while softening the relationship between the interior and the street.

The elevation consequently acquires depth and variation without relying on a conventional repetition of balconies.

 

Opening the ground floor to the city

At street level, the project deliberately establishes a more public character.

The bar-restaurant is integrated into the ground floor as a meeting point for both hotel guests and city residents. Its programme extends into the existing public arcade, allowing the boundary between interior and exterior to remain visually and functionally porous.

Lighting reinforces this continuity, while the reception retains a separate and more protected entrance. The two functions can therefore coexist on the same level without the restaurant operating simply as an extension of the hotel lobby.

The columns of the arcade are clad in mirror, multiplying reflections from the street and emphasizing the public character of the base of the building.

 

A compact double-height reception

The reception occupies a deliberately compact area while making use of the existing double-height volume.

Mirrored surfaces extend the perceived dimensions of the space, while a more concentrated colour palette distinguishes it from both the exterior and the guestrooms above. Red marble is used on the floor and stair, while a cobalt-blue reception desk becomes the principal colour accent.

The intensity of the materials and colours gives the entrance level a more outward-facing character that responds to the movement and activity of central Athens.

On the accommodation floors, however, the design language changes considerably.

 

A quieter material language in the guestrooms

The six floors of guestrooms and suites contain different room typologies but share a common material approach.

The vivid atmosphere of the ground floor gives way to subdued natural tones and materials sourced from Greece. Stone and textiles introduce characteristic textures, while purpose-designed elements combine more than one function within the rooms.

Marble bed headboards turn an ordinarily decorative component into an architectural surface, while built-in sofas can also function as desks.

This shift in colour and material establishes a clear transition between the extroverted character of the lower levels and the quieter environment of the accommodation areas.

 

From public space to privacy

The hotel programme develops vertically according to different degrees of public and private use.

The ground floor and mezzanine accommodate the bar-restaurant, breakfast area and reception. The six upper levels contain the guestrooms, while the top floor includes a gym with open views towards Lycabettus Hill and central Athens.

OOAK Architects therefore redefine the 1960s building not only through its renovation but primarily through a new relationship with the city. The redesigned façade establishes a new urban presence, the ground floor extends into the arcade, and the accommodation floors create a more protected interior behind the expressive exterior.

 

The project was first published in print in ek277 | May 2023.

Set among the vineyards of the Uco Valley and facing the Andes, La Vigilia Winery combines four solid volumes of black-pigmented concrete with oxidized metal, controlled natural light and a sequence of spaces that separates the technical demands of wine production from the slower experience of visitors.

 

La Vigilia Winery in Mendoza by González Olsina & Vega Arquitectos is located within The Vines of Mendoza in Los Chacayes, Tunuyán, approximately 85km southwest of the city of Mendoza. Completed in 2022, the 1,700m² winery forms part of a wine and gastronomic destination together with the nearby ROPE Restaurant, with vineyards and the Andes establishing the wider context for the architecture.

The project is conceived around a dual condition: a technically precise production building and, at the same time, a more contemplative setting associated with the culture and temporality of wine. Production, storage, tasting and meeting spaces are therefore organized within a clear system of volumes and circulation routes, while material, light and shadow regulate the transition between the open landscape and the more enclosed interior.

 

Four solid volumes

The public programme is organized around four equidistant volumes of black-pigmented concrete.

They accommodate the entrance hall, tasting room, meeting room and production offices, while a precise internal circulation system connects the different functions and separates the movement of staff from that of visitors.

This organization allows the working areas to operate directly and efficiently, while the visitor route develops more gradually.

The winery is therefore not experienced as a single open hall. A sequence of spaces introduces different levels of enclosure, orientation and visual contact with the production process and the surrounding landscape.

 

A slower route for visitors

The project distinguishes between two forms of arrival.

Access to the productive areas is direct, responding to the operational requirements of the winery. The visitor approach, by contrast, is extended into a deliberate sequence connected with the gardens, vineyards and distant mountain range.

At the main entrance, repeated vertical planes form a semi-covered threshold. Solids and voids establish a measured rhythm of movement, light and shadow before the interior is revealed.

Axis and proportion reinforce the clarity of the route, while the alternating vertical elements give depth to the otherwise low and horizontal composition.

 

Production at the centre

The productive core occupies the centre of the building.

Wine is produced and aged in vessels made of concrete, ceramic and terracotta, creating a working environment where different techniques and stages of the process remain spatially concentrated.

A laboratory is positioned within a Vierendeel beam above the production space. From this elevated position, technical work can take place with direct visual control over the different stages below.

The arrangement combines the practical requirements of production with a clear architectural section, turning observation of the process into part of the internal spatial organization.

 

Black concrete and oxidized metal

The material palette reinforces the weight and horizontal presence of the building within the vineyard.

Externally, black-pigmented concrete gives the volumes a dense and restrained character against the openness of the landscape. Above them, an oxidized metal crown introduces warmer golden and earthy tones, establishing a chromatic relationship with the vineyard, particularly with the changing colour of the leaves during autumn.

Inside, natural concrete receives a bush-hammered finish that exposes its mineral aggregate and gives the surfaces a rougher, less uniform character.

The contrast between the dark exterior concrete, weathered metal and more tactile interior surfaces establishes variation without expanding the material palette unnecessarily.

 

Light as part of the spatial sequence

Natural light is tightly controlled throughout the winery.

At the entrance, sunlight passes between the repeated vertical planes, producing alternating bands of brightness and shadow along the approach. Inside, lower light levels create a more concentrated environment around the production and ageing areas.

The project uses this contrast to distinguish the openness of the vineyard from the controlled conditions required within the building.

Rather than illuminating every area uniformly, light is used selectively to reveal material surfaces, direct movement and differentiate the successive spaces.

 

Architecture between production and landscape

La Vigilia Winery is ultimately structured by the relationship between technical function, landscape and a carefully controlled visitor experience.

Its compact volumes contain the practical requirements of winemaking, while the entrance sequence, tasting areas and circulation spaces slow down the movement through the building and maintain an awareness of the vineyards and Andes beyond.

González Olsina & Vega Arquitectos use black concrete, oxidized metal, repeated vertical planes and controlled light to establish a winery whose architectural identity emerges directly from production, material and territory rather than from applied imagery.

A late-1970s duplex residence in Athens is renovated without erasing its original character, retaining the sculptural spiral stair, built-in cabinetry and ceramic surfaces while introducing a new layer of petrol blue, orange and red.

 

The duplex residence in Athens by Nefelia Studio approaches renovation as a process of continuity rather than replacement. Built in the late 1970s, the house already possessed a distinct architectural language, defined by a sculptural spiral stair, extensive built-in cabinetry, double-height spaces and original ceramic surfaces.

Instead of reducing the interior to a neutral shell, the intervention preserves these existing elements and uses colour and material to give them a new presence. The original spatial organization remains largely intact, while targeted additions establish a contemporary layer without concealing the age of the residence.

 

Working with the existing architecture

The renovation begins with the decision to retain the qualities already embedded in the house.

The original cabinetry, stair and ceramic finishes are treated as active components of the new design rather than as elements to be removed. Their proportions and positions continue to organize circulation, storage and the relationship between the different spaces.

This approach allows the architecture of the late 1970s to remain legible while avoiding a literal restoration of the period. The new interventions are clearly contemporary but develop through a direct relationship with the existing interior.

 

Petrol blue and an orange stair

Colour becomes one of the principal tools of the renovation.

Existing built-in cabinetry is retained and finished in a deep petrol blue. The continuous colour transforms the storage surfaces into a defining architectural element, organizing movement through the house and framing views between adjacent areas.

At the centre of the residence, the original spiral stair is reinterpreted in vivid orange. Its curved geometry and saturated colour emphasize its sculptural character and establish it as the main visual anchor within the double-height interior.

Rather than introducing colour as a decorative layer, the project uses it to clarify existing forms and reinforce their role within the spatial composition.

 

A new kitchen within the existing language

The newly constructed kitchen follows the same approach.

Petrol-blue cabinetry continues the colour established by the existing built-in elements, while glossy orange ceramic tiles introduce a reflective surface. A bright red sink adds a third, concentrated colour accent.

The combination is deliberately expressive but remains tied to architectural elements rather than loose decoration. Colour defines volumes, distinguishes functions and responds to changing light across the surfaces.

The kitchen consequently reads as a new intervention while remaining connected to the broader chromatic language of the residence.

 

Preserving the original bathrooms

The bathrooms demonstrate the same strategy of selective retention.

Original ceramic wall tiles are carefully preserved and combined with contemporary materials, fittings and restrained sanitary ware. The existing surfaces are not concealed in an attempt to make the rooms appear entirely new.

Instead, differences between the original construction and the contemporary additions remain visible.

The result acknowledges the age of the house while adapting the bathrooms to present-day use, maintaining a direct material connection with the original interior.

 

Colour, form and memory

Throughout the duplex, the intervention avoids unnecessary alteration of the existing spatial organization.

The project concentrates on the elements that already give the house its identity and strengthens them through colour, new finishes and carefully positioned additions. Built-in cabinetry remains part of the architectural structure, the spiral stair retains its central role and original ceramic surfaces continue to register the period in which the residence was built.

Nefelia Studio uses the renovation to establish new relationships between these existing elements rather than replacing them.

The house consequently retains the character of its late-1970s architecture while acquiring a distinctly contemporary chromatic identity. Petrol blue, orange and red become architectural tools within a project where continuity is valued over erasure.

A linear shell divides a sloping plot in Achaia between an olive grove and a residential garden, organizing a 220m² house around uninterrupted views towards the Gulf of Patras and a sequence of sheltered semi-outdoor spaces.

 

The residence in Achaia by Façade is located in Kato Kastritsi and develops as a 220m² ground-floor house with a basement. Completed in 2023, the project uses linearity as both a formal and organizational principle: an elongated architectural shell crosses the site, separating two distinct landscape conditions while containing the main domestic functions.

On one side lies the existing olive grove, conceived as the quieter part of the plot. On the other, the residential garden forms the principal outdoor area for everyday use. The house occupies the boundary between the two and directs its main spaces towards the Gulf of Patras.

 

A linear shell across the site

The central design gesture is a continuous linear volume that cuts through the plot.

Rather than treating the residence as an autonomous object surrounded by landscape, the building becomes an element that reorganizes the site itself. Its position distinguishes the olive grove from the garden and establishes two different conditions of occupation.

The elongated geometry also reinforces the idea of the house as a shelter. The principal domestic functions are contained within a single architectural shell whose orientation, proportions and degree of enclosure respond directly to the landscape.

This linearity extends from the overall form to circulation and the internal distribution of the residence.

 

Living towards the Gulf of Patras

The house is oriented towards the open horizon and the Gulf of Patras.

Its interior spaces are arranged sequentially along the main axis, allowing the distant view to remain present throughout the residence. Circulation follows the same direction and reinforces continuity between the different domestic functions.

The transparency of the main elevation establishes a direct visual relationship between interior, garden and horizon. Instead of limiting contact with the landscape to individual openings, the principal living areas maintain a continuous visual field towards the exterior.

The garden consequently operates as an immediate extension of the interior, while the sea remains a more distant point of reference.

 

Semi-outdoor spaces within the shell

The geometry of the shell generates a series of protected outdoor areas.

These semi-outdoor spaces emerge as extensions and recesses of the principal volume rather than as independent additions. They provide shade and shelter while maintaining continuity between enclosed rooms and the garden.

The intermediate zones are fundamental to the project, mediating between the solid presence of the architectural envelope and the openness of the landscape.

They also extend everyday domestic life towards the exterior, allowing the relationship between indoor and outdoor space to remain active throughout the house.

 

Enclosure and transparency

The northwest elevation expresses one of the principal contrasts of the residence.

The solid presence of the linear shell is set against the transparency of the spaces it contains. Opaque and glazed surfaces perform complementary roles: the former reinforce protection and enclosure, while the latter maintain visual continuity towards the garden and the Gulf of Patras.

The elevation therefore operates less as a conventional façade and more as the open side of the shelter, where the long internal sequence meets the landscape.

The contrast between mass and transparency makes the protective character of the architecture legible without turning the residence inward.

 

A boundary between two landscapes

The residence is ultimately organized around a clear relationship between a line, two landscape conditions and a distant horizon.

The elongated shell divides the plot while simultaneously connecting its different parts. Behind it, the olive grove retains a quieter character; in front, the garden becomes part of everyday domestic life and opens towards the sea.

Façade uses circulation, orientation, transparency and semi-outdoor spaces to expand the idea of shelter beyond simple enclosure. The geometry provides protection, while the continuous relationship with the garden and the Gulf of Patras keeps the house open towards its natural setting.

 

The project was first published in print in ek290 | September 2024.

Exposed concrete, natural textures and Brazilian furniture define the renovation of a 130m² apartment in São Paulo, where a reconfigured plan opens the social areas while retaining visible traces of the building’s 1970s structure.

The Jardins Apartment in São Paulo by AVAA Arquitetura is a 130m² residence within a building dating from the late 1970s. Designed for a couple, the renovation combines a complete infrastructure update with a reorganization of the original floor plan, while preserving structural elements such as the exposed concrete beams.

Rather than concealing the age of the building, the intervention retains selected existing elements and places them in dialogue with new timber surfaces, natural textures and contemporary furniture. The result is organized around greater continuity between the social spaces and a material palette that connects the apartment’s existing structure with the personal references of its residents.

 

An integrated social area

The new layout gives priority to the shared areas of the apartment.

The previously enclosed kitchen is opened towards the living and dining spaces and organized around a large central island. The kitchen consequently becomes part of everyday social activity, accommodating both meal preparation and gatherings with friends and family.

Access to the service area is concealed behind a flush door incorporated into the timber panelling of the dining area. Secondary functions are therefore absorbed within a continuous architectural surface, maintaining visual continuity across the main living space.

The living and dining areas are designed to support different activities without requiring fixed divisions. A double-sided sofa separates a more informal sitting area from the television zone, while a continuous bench extends along the room, providing seating and integrated storage.

 

Existing concrete and natural textures

Materiality establishes a direct relationship between the original building and the new interior.

The exposed concrete beams are retained as visible traces of the 1970s structure, allowing the construction of the building to remain legible within the renovated apartment. Against these harder surfaces, timber and natural textures introduce a more tactile layer.

Woven straw has particular significance within the material palette, referring to the Portuguese background of one of the residents. The reference is incorporated through material rather than decorative imagery, introducing a personal element within the broader architectural composition.

Walls and ceilings receive textured finishes in neutral tones. Their uneven surfaces respond subtly to changes in natural and artificial light, providing variation without introducing additional colours or decorative layers.

 

A powder room within the existing infrastructure

The powder room is created by reusing the plumbing shaft associated with the former service bathroom.

This adjustment takes advantage of the existing infrastructure while adapting the apartment to its new social organization. A countertop in Verde Vitória Régia quartzite becomes the principal material element, its manually finished surface emphasizing the natural variations of the stone.

Travertine mosaic flooring is combined with green-toned wallpaper, establishing a more concentrated material and colour palette than in the main living areas.

A watercolor depicting the resident’s family home in Portugal introduces another personal reference, connecting the renovated apartment in São Paulo with memories of a different domestic setting.

 

The private areas

The main suite was enlarged to incorporate a generous walk-in wardrobe with light timber cabinetry.

The lighter joinery contrasts with the darker herringbone flooring, while a vanity positioned beside the window takes advantage of natural light. Rather than treating the room as a collection of independent furniture pieces, several functions are incorporated within the overall composition.

A rectangular ottoman introduces additional texture, while a bench designed by the studio combines curved geometry with a subtle colour accent.

The guest suite has a dual function and can also operate as a home office. In everyday use, it provides a dedicated space for the couple’s two dogs, allowing the room to adapt according to changing domestic needs.

Lighting without lowering the ceiling

Maintaining the original ceiling height was a specific consideration of the renovation.

Rather than introducing extensive suspended ceilings to accommodate services and lighting, recessed details resolve technical requirements while organizing illumination in the social areas and circulation zones.

Indirect lighting with warm colour temperatures and dimmable controls allows the atmosphere to change according to the time and use of each space. The strategy is integrated with a complete renewal of the apartment’s plumbing and electrical systems, together with preparation for home automation.

The technical upgrade therefore remains largely discreet, allowing the exposed original structure and the proportions of the rooms to remain clearly visible.

Brazilian design within the interior

The furniture selection introduces a further layer to the apartment through a focus on Brazilian design.

A dining table designed by AVAA Design is integrated into the social area, while Sérgio Rodrigues’ Moleca armchair forms one of the principal pieces in the living room. Furniture and objects by Gustavo Bittencourt, Jader Almeida, Estúdio Orth and Mel Kawahara complete the selection.

The furniture is therefore not treated as a separate decorative layer. Together with the retained concrete, timber surfaces and natural textures, it contributes to an interior where the existing architecture, contemporary interventions and personal references remain simultaneously visible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opposite the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch, a hotel in central Athens uses vertical façade elements, framed balconies, marble, oak and integrated greenery to establish a contemporary dialogue with the city’s classical context.

 

Anthology of Athens by Elastic Architects is located in the historic centre of Athens, in direct visual dialogue with the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch. The design draws on the city’s classical references without reproducing them literally, translating proportion, verticality, materiality and views into a contemporary architectural language.

The concept also takes inspiration from the myth of Deucalion, in which stones thrown upon the earth become human beings. This relationship between matter and transformation becomes a recurring theme throughout the building, from the rhythm of the façade to the tactile treatment of the interiors.

 

A façade structured by proportion

The main elevation is organized through new balconies and a system of vertical elements that give the façade its principal rhythm.

Their spacing follows proportional relationships based on the golden section, establishing a clear grid across the elevation. These elements perform both functional and compositional roles, framing the balconies while controlling the visual relationship between the guestrooms and the surrounding city.

Rather than directly imitating classical columns, the vertical members abstract their linearity and rhythm. The reference to the nearby Temple of Olympian Zeus therefore operates through proportion and repetition rather than ornament.

 

Framing the Athenian landscape

The façade functions as a series of filters between interior space and the urban landscape.

The projecting balconies create depth and shade, while their vertical frames structure views towards the archaeological monuments and the wider city. From the upper levels, these openings become architectural devices for observing rather than simply overlooking Athens.

Light and shadow continuously alter the perception of the elevation. The vertical elements cast changing patterns across the balconies, reinforcing the depth of the façade and giving the building a different appearance throughout the day.

The architecture is therefore shaped not only by its physical form, but also by the changing relationship between material, daylight and view.

 

Classical references through abstraction

The project interprets its historical surroundings through contemporary geometry.

The rhythm of ancient colonnades is translated into slender vertical forms, while the orthogonal organization of the façade provides a controlled framework for the different openings and balconies.

This grid also influences the organization of the interiors, extending the logic of the exterior into the spatial structure of the hotel. The reference remains abstract: the design does not reproduce classical motifs, but reworks principles of proportion, repetition and structural rhythm.

 

A more expressive interior

Inside, the architectural language becomes more tactile and expressive.

Marble, oak, glass and textured plaster create a layered material environment, while integrated planting introduces a contrasting natural element. The interplay between mineral, timber and planted surfaces gives the communal spaces greater depth without departing from the restrained palette established by the architecture.

The use of natural materials connects different areas of the hotel while allowing changes in texture to distinguish individual spaces.

Curved elements appear alongside the more orthogonal geometry of the building, introducing a softer counterpoint within circulation areas and shared interiors.

 

Marble, oak and textured surfaces

Materiality becomes particularly important in the guestrooms and communal areas.

Marble provides the principal mineral surface, while oak introduces warmth and a finer texture. Glass with decorative treatment and fluted plaster add further variation, creating different responses to natural and artificial light.

The colour palette remains controlled, with off-white, beige and earth tones extending across both interior and exterior surfaces. These restrained colours reinforce continuity between materials and allow the architectural elements, vegetation and views to remain visually prominent.

 

Architecture as a filter of views

Anthology of Athens uses its position within the historic centre as a central component of the design.

The façade mediates between the intimacy of the guestrooms and the monumental scale of the surrounding city, while the interiors develop the same concept through changes in material, texture and light.

Elastic Architects translate classical references into proportion and rhythm rather than direct quotation. Vertical elements, framed balconies, marble surfaces and greenery establish a contemporary architectural identity whose relationship with Athens is defined primarily through what it frames, filters and reveals.

 

The project was first published in print in ek302 | November 2025.

The historic Electra Hotel on Ermou Street is comprehensively redesigned around the concept of urban rhythm, introducing four new room typologies, publicly accessible social spaces and a reworked ground-level façade connected directly with the pedestrian life of central Athens.

 

Electra Rhythm Athens by Mutiny Architects is the new incarnation of the historic Electra Hotel Athens at 5 Ermou Street. The project uses the notion of rhythm as the organizing concept for the architectural and interior design, translating the pace, repetition and movement of the city into spatial sequences, material choices and architectural details.

The redesign addresses the hotel as a whole, from guestrooms and shared interiors to the entrance and lower section of the façade. A central objective was to create new room typologies for contemporary travellers while opening parts of the building to the wider public through spaces for coffee, work, exercise and dining.

 

 

Four room typologies

The hotel contains 101 guestrooms, completely redesigned according to four principal types: Nest, Slow, Cozy and Active.

Each typology, together with its variations and suites, responds to different room sizes, patterns of use and requirements of individual guests. Despite these differences, a common architectural vocabulary gives the accommodation a coherent identity.

Timber and marbles associated with the Athenian urban landscape form the principal material palette. Curved forms appear in ceilings, lighting elements and selected architectural details, while repetition provides the most direct spatial expression of the overall concept.

Vertical members, horizontal planes and recurring architectural elements introduce rhythm at different scales within each room.

 

Opening the hotel to the city

Three principal spaces extend the programme beyond conventional hotel functions and are also accessible to the public.

Rebels Brew operates as a curated coffee shop and bar directly facing the Ermou pedestrian street. Collaborative Studios provide spaces for professional meetings and flexible work, while Focal, on the highest accessible level, functions as both the hotel restaurant and an independent bar-restaurant.

This mixture of hospitality and public uses establishes a more porous relationship between the hotel and the surrounding city.

The shared areas are not treated as isolated amenities for hotel guests, but as spaces that participate in the everyday activity of central Athens.

 

 

Reinterpreting the Athenian arcade

At ground level, reception, lounges, a library, kitchen facilities and Rebels Brew are organized in direct relationship with the principal circulation areas.

The redesign of the entrance draws on the Athenian arcade, a characteristic element of the city’s modern urban fabric. Rather than creating a sharply defined threshold, the entrance supports a more fluid transition from the Ermou pedestrian street into the hotel.

The concept of rhythm therefore extends beyond decorative repetition. It becomes part of the movement through the building, connecting the pace of the street with the organization of the internal spaces.

 

Work, exercise and hospitality

The first floor accommodates the Collaborative Studios together with the Electro Studio Gym.

Both programmes introduce uses that move beyond the traditional division between guestrooms and hotel amenities. The workspaces respond to hybrid modes of professional activity, while the gym adds another outward-facing programme within the building.

Guestrooms occupy the second through ninth floors. On the tenth floor, Focal forms the uppermost public destination of the hotel, with three terraces, two of them offering unobstructed views towards the Acropolis.

The programme consequently develops vertically from the most urban and publicly accessible functions at street level towards accommodation and, finally, the rooftop restaurant.

 

 

A new base for the existing façade

The main part of the existing façade, including the openings of the guestrooms facing Ermou Street, was retained.

The lower part, however, was completely redesigned to reinforce its relationship with the pedestrian street. A new olive-green zone extends across the ground and mezzanine levels, visually establishing a base for the composition.

Arches articulate this lower section, while an illuminated entrance canopy projects towards the street. Its geometry deliberately contrasts with the linear direction of the pedestrian route, marking the entrance while introducing a more dynamic element into the existing elevation.

The intervention therefore concentrates the most visible external transformation at the level where the hotel meets the city.

 

Rhythm as an architectural system

Across the guestrooms, shared spaces and façade, rhythm is interpreted through repetition, sequences, curved forms and movement.

Rather than applying the concept as a graphic theme, Mutiny Architects use it to connect different scales of the project: the vertical elements within the rooms, the circulation through communal areas, the reinterpretation of the arcade and the new architectural base facing Ermou Street.

Electra Rhythm Athens consequently transforms an established city hotel while retaining much of its existing urban presence. The new interventions focus on the relationship between hospitality and public life, extending the internal programme towards the rhythms of contemporary Athens.

 

The project was first published in print in ek302 | November 2025, in the CITY section.

A residential complex near Kalamata’s marina combines permanent and short-term accommodation through two autonomous volumes, shaded intermediate spaces and a material palette drawn from the Messinian landscape.

O-Living in Kalamata by Kipseli Architects is a 550m² housing complex completed in 2025, close to the city’s marina. Developed as two autonomous buildings, it accommodates four rental apartments and four permanent residences within a common architectural language shaped by the climate and material character of Messinia.

The project interprets two different modes of inhabitation through the organization of its volumes and intermediate outdoor spaces. Grey-green surfaces are combined with white, reed, straw and timber, while olive trees become recurring elements in the spatial and material composition.

 

Two modes of inhabitation

The complex brings together temporary and permanent accommodation without merging them into a single undifferentiated building.

The two uses remain functionally autonomous, while their common proportions, materials and environmental strategies establish a coherent ensemble. The separation between them is not treated as residual space, but becomes part of the architectural sequence.

On the first level, a small planted garden with a mature olive tree forms an intermediate outdoor zone between the two parts of the complex. This shared landscape element provides distance and privacy while maintaining visual continuity.

 

A shaded threshold at ground level

At ground level, the pilotis develops as a planted arcade that operates more like a courtyard than a conventional passage.

Planter benches, low steps and a double-height section establish different levels of occupation while accommodating vegetation. Together, they create a shaded and cooler threshold before entering the residences.

The base of the building is characterized by hammered concrete and discreet details of green marble. These heavier surfaces give the ground level a distinct material identity and establish a tactile transition between the street, vegetation and residential interiors.

A young olive tree planted within the rear courtyard reinforces the relationship between the architecture and the landscape references that run throughout the project.

 

Reed screens as adjustable filters

On the main façade, sliding screens made with reeds create a variable layer between the apartments and the street.

The screens regulate sunlight and privacy while allowing the appearance of the elevation to change according to use. Rather than functioning as a fixed envelope, the façade becomes responsive to the daily occupation of the building.

Their natural texture also introduces a softer material against the more mineral surfaces of concrete and plaster, reinforcing the palette derived from the Messinian countryside.

 

Grey-green, white and natural materials

The olive tree provides more than a symbolic reference. Its colour and material associations inform the broader architectural palette.

Grey-green surfaces are combined with white, reed, straw and timber, establishing a restrained range of colours and textures that relates the building to its local context without reproducing vernacular forms literally.

Vegetation is incorporated at different levels of the project, from the entrance areas to the elevated garden, establishing a continuous relationship between planted and built elements.

The result is an architecture where material choices, shading devices and landscape operate as parts of the same environmental language.

 

Recessed upper volume and natural light

The uppermost level is set back from the main building line, reducing the perceived volume of the complex within the surrounding urban fabric.

This recession also creates a clearer hierarchy between the building’s levels and allows the upper portion to appear lighter in relation to the more defined base.

Carefully positioned skylights bring natural light deeper into the interior, complementing the openings on the façades and the shaded external spaces.

Through these operations, the building responds to the strong Messinian sun not by closing itself off, but by introducing a sequence of filters, recesses and intermediate zones.

 

A Messinian narrative within the city

O-Living translates references from the Messinian landscape into an urban residential building through material, vegetation and climate-responsive elements.

The olive trees, reed screens, shaded pilotis and grey-green palette do not operate as decorative references. Instead, they contribute directly to the organization of privacy, natural light and circulation.

Kipseli Architects use these elements to connect two different forms of residence within a common architectural identity, establishing a building that mediates between the urban fabric of Kalamata and the characteristics of its coastal landscape.

 

The project was first published in print in Condo Buildings Vol.4, the annual bilingual edition of ek Architectural Publications. The print feature appeared under the editorial title “Messinian Narrative.”

A listed former sanatorium in the fir forests of Arcadia is restored as a 32-room hotel, preserving its monumental stone structure while introducing local materials, contemporary hospitality spaces and a restrained new layer of timber, terrazzo and stone.

Manna Arcadia in Vytina, with architectural and interior design by K-Studio and technical design by Monogon, revives a former sanatorium built in 1929 on Mount Mainalo. Set at an altitude of approximately 1,200m within the Arcadian forest, the listed building has been transformed into a 32-room hotel while retaining the architectural character and material traces of its previous life.

Originally conceived as a tuberculosis sanatorium, the building was designed around the belief in the restorative qualities of fresh air, isolation and the mountain landscape. Following its abandonment, parts of the structure and its materials were removed or repurposed elsewhere. The contemporary intervention therefore begins with the preservation and reconstruction of a building whose original fabric had survived unevenly over several decades.

 

Restoring the existing building

The design retains as much of the original construction as possible and treats the surviving material fabric as the basis for the new architecture.

Rather than returning the building to an idealized historical condition, the intervention preserves its visible age and introduces new surfaces that remain compatible with the existing structure. Natural renders, stone, timber and terrazzo establish a restrained palette whose textures reinforce the solid and austere character of the former sanatorium.

Where the original terrazzo floors were severely damaged, they were replaced with new mixtures using locally sourced gravel. Stone is introduced at ground level in the dining and spa areas, as well as at thresholds and sills, while chestnut timber adds a warmer layer to the interior.

The approach establishes continuity through material character rather than exact reproduction.

 

Extending the original programme

The restoration also reactivates parts of the original building that had been lost or left incomplete.

A new volume occupies the footprint of a ruined auxiliary structure, while the reconstruction of the roof creates an additional attic level. These interventions extend the usable area without introducing an independent architectural language detached from the historic building.

Across approximately 2,982m², the programme includes 32 guestrooms, reception and lounge areas, a bar, restaurant, spa, gym and supporting hotel functions.

The arrangement preserves the scale of the main communal rooms while allowing smaller and more secluded spaces to coexist throughout the building.

A timber grid organizes the guestrooms

Within the guestrooms, a timber framework establishes the principal system of spatial organization.

The brushed timber grid defines areas for sleeping, bathing and dressing, while its geometry is repeated in the patterns of the terrazzo and marble floors. Furniture and fixed elements are therefore integrated within an ordered system rather than introduced as independent objects.

The material palette remains deliberately limited. Timber provides warmth against the more mineral surfaces of stone and terrazzo, while the restrained colours maintain continuity with the architecture of the existing building.

The result avoids the conventional repetition of a standardized hotel room and instead emphasizes the relationship between structure, material and use.

 

Existing traces and new materials

The project places particular emphasis on the way new materials age alongside the original construction.

The surviving building is not treated as a pristine historical object. Irregularities, traces of wear and variations in texture remain legible, while new finishes are selected for their ability to acquire their own patina over time.

This approach is especially evident in the relationship between rougher mineral surfaces and carefully detailed timber elements. The new interventions remain identifiable without becoming visually detached from the original shell.

Metal-framed openings introduce another precise layer within the heavier masonry envelope, allowing daylight and views towards the forest to remain central to the experience of the interior.

Shared spaces and retreat

The former sanatorium provides an unusual framework for a contemporary hospitality programme.

Large communal rooms support gathering and social activity, while more secluded areas retain the sense of retreat associated with the building’s original use. The hotel therefore combines collective spaces with smaller settings for privacy and quiet.

The restaurant and lounge occupy some of the larger interiors, while the spa develops the project’s relationship with wellbeing through more enclosed, materially dense spaces.

This alternation between gathering and retreat extends the logic of the existing building rather than imposing an entirely new model of occupation.

 

Architecture within the Arcadian landscape

The surrounding forest remains fundamental to the project.

Instead of competing with the scale of the landscape, the intervention concentrates on restoring the existing structure and strengthening its relationship with the terrain. Natural materials, views towards the forest and a landscape design integrated with the mountain setting reinforce this connection.

Manna Arcadia consequently operates as an adaptive reuse project in which the previous identity of the sanatorium is neither erased nor reconstructed as a historical image. K-Studio and Monogon retain the building’s structural and material presence while adapting it to contemporary hospitality through measured additions and a limited architectural vocabulary.

 

The project was first published in print in ek282 | November 2023, in the RESORT section

Four former tannery buildings on the waterfront of Chania are converted into a 20-suite hotel, preserving their industrial character while introducing a restrained material language of stone, timber, metal and glass.

The Tanneries Hotel & Spa in Chania by Konstantina Smponia – Architecture & Design occupies four adjoining former industrial buildings in the historic Tabakaria district. Completed in 2021, the 2,500m² project transforms the heritage complex into a contemporary hotel while retaining the material and volumetric character of the original tanneries.

Rather than erasing the traces of the buildings’ former use, the intervention works with their existing masonry, proportions and relationship with the waterfront. The four volumes are read as a unified composition, while their different heights respond to the slope of the site and its direct connection with the sea.

 

Four industrial buildings on the waterfront

The complex belongs to Tabakaria, the former tannery district east of the centre of Chania, where industrial buildings developed directly along the shoreline.

The project retains the distinctive character of the four existing structures rather than replacing them with a new hotel volume. The south side remains relatively low and discreet towards the urban fabric, while the northern elevation develops over three levels as the site descends towards the sea.

This difference in section reinforces the dual condition of the project: more contained towards the city and increasingly open towards the waterfront.

The relationship between the two sides becomes part of the arrival sequence. From the urban entrance, large openings establish visual contact with the sea, connecting the street-facing side of the former industrial complex with the coastal landscape beyond.

 

Preserving an industrial character

The renovation is based on retaining key elements of the original buildings while adapting them to contemporary hospitality use.

The industrial identity remains visible through the existing façades, roof tiles and structural surfaces, together with the continued presence of stone, concrete, metal and timber. The intervention avoids introducing a decorative historical reconstruction and instead uses a restrained contemporary language around the surviving fabric.

The material palette responds directly to the character of the former tanneries. Natural stone provides weight and texture, timber introduces warmth, while metal and glass establish a more precise contemporary layer.

A limited range of beige, black and grey tones reinforces the continuity between the different areas and allows the roughness of the existing construction to remain clearly perceptible.

 

Twenty suites within the existing volumes

The four buildings accommodate 20 suites, organized within the dimensions and irregularities of the historic structures.

Rather than imposing a single repeated hotel-room module, the interiors respond to the different proportions of the existing volumes. The suites remain visually restrained, with natural materials and a predominantly monochrome palette allowing the relationship with the sea to remain central.

Large openings introduce natural light and frame waterfront views, while stone, timber and marble establish continuity between sleeping, living and bathing areas.

The bathrooms use marble extensively, reinforcing the contrast between the more robust industrial fabric and the smoother surfaces introduced for the new hospitality programme.

 

Permeability between city and sea

One of the main spatial qualities of the conversion is the gradual connection between the urban and maritime sides of the complex.

Views towards the water are maintained through large glazed openings, while circulation spaces allow the sea to remain present beyond the interior.

This transparency is repeated in communal areas, where glass and other translucent elements are used to balance openness with privacy. In the spa and fitness areas, glass blocks introduce diffuse light and partial visibility, creating a more protected atmosphere without completely separating these spaces from the rest of the hotel.

The architecture therefore uses different degrees of transparency rather than a strict division between enclosed interiors and the waterfront.

 

Shared spaces and wellness

The hotel programme extends beyond the guestrooms to include reception, restaurant, spa, fitness facilities and an indoor heated pool.

These spaces follow the same material approach as the suites, but each acquires specific details related to its function. The spa uses large openings towards the sea, while the restaurant occupies a more direct relationship with the waterfront.

The former industrial complex consequently operates as a sequence of different environments rather than as a uniform hotel interior.

Despite the diversity of uses, the limited palette and repeated material references create continuity across the project.

 

Adaptive reuse in Tabakaria

The Tanneries Hotel & Spa is ultimately defined by the decision to preserve the identity of four industrial buildings while adapting them to a substantially different programme.

Their stone construction, relationship with the shoreline and varied internal proportions remain visible, while contemporary interventions introduce the technical and functional requirements of a hotel without obscuring the original structures.

Konstantina Smponia uses material restraint and the relationship between the city and the sea to establish a new use for the former tanneries while retaining their industrial presence within Tabakaria.

 

The project was first published in print in ek282 | November 2023, in the CITY section.

A comprehensive redesign of Rocabella Mykonos reorganizes the hotel as a sequence of sheltered paths, cave-like spaces and planted terraces, using stone, timber and earth-toned surfaces to establish a coherent identity across the existing complex.

The redesign of Rocabella Mykonos by Eleftherios Ambatzis began in 2022 as a comprehensive transformation of a hotel complex originally developed from 2000 onwards. The intervention encompasses the reconstruction of its interior and exterior spaces, the addition of new rooms and functions, and the reorganization of uses within the existing building fabric.

The project takes its conceptual cue from the hotel’s name—Rocabella, meaning “beautiful rock” in Italian—and from the granite formation that originally dominated the site. Part of this rock was excavated during earlier construction, while fragments remain dispersed throughout the communal areas. The new design draws on this geological reference to create spaces that appear carved into the terrain.

 

A sequence carved into the landscape

The spatial organization develops as a network of paths, corridors and changing levels rather than as a single continuous hotel volume.

These routes connect spaces of different proportions, degrees of enclosure and levels of privacy. Their irregular sequence evokes a system of cavities within the rock, alternating between protected interiors and openings towards the landscape.

The circulation becomes part of the hospitality experience itself. Narrower passages expand into terraces and communal areas, while changes in level generate a gradual transition between more exposed and more protected zones.

This organization gives the existing complex a clearer identity without relying on a uniform architectural gesture across every part of the site.

 

Different rooms within a common language

The guestrooms are deliberately differentiated from one another, following the idea that each occupies a distinct cavity within the “beautiful rock”.

Their configurations vary according to orientation and position, yet all maintain a relationship with the exterior. The spaces remain protected from the strong sun and wind while opening towards views of the sea, Mykonos harbour, Delos and Rhenia.

Behind the white Cycladic exterior, the interiors shift towards a warmer and more tactile palette. Timber and stone are combined with earth-toned cement-based finishes that extend continuously across walls and other interior surfaces.

The repetition of these materials creates visual continuity between rooms and communal areas despite their varied spatial configurations.

 

Stone, timber and continuous surfaces

Material choices reinforce the relationship between the architecture and the rocky landscape.

Existing and newly introduced stone surfaces retain a direct, textured character, while timber provides a warmer counterpoint. A continuous cement-based finish in muted earth tones brings together walls and built-in elements, reducing visual fragmentation within the interior.

Rather than relying on decorative references to Cycladic architecture, the design establishes its identity through mass, texture, shade and a limited range of materials.

This quieter interior language contrasts with the bright white exterior envelope and strengthens the perception of the guestrooms and shared spaces as protected environments within the larger complex.

 

Rocabella Villa

Alongside the redesign of the existing guestrooms, the project introduces Rocabella Villa, a separate residence with a private swimming pool.

The villa remains connected to the communal facilities of the hotel while maintaining a greater degree of privacy and independence. Its inclusion expands the range of accommodation without detaching it from the architectural language of the rest of the complex.

The relationship between shared amenities and private retreat reflects the broader spatial strategy of Rocabella, where the degree of exposure, enclosure and interaction changes gradually across the site.

 

Planting as part of the redesign

The landscape intervention plays an important role in the overall transformation.

New planted roofs and additional landscaped areas are introduced around the hotel, while previously unused parts of the site are planted with native cacti. The vegetation reduces the visual presence of the built surfaces and reintroduces planted areas within the densely developed complex.

Planting is therefore treated as part of the architectural reorganization rather than simply as an ornamental layer.

Together with the white volumes, stone surfaces and fragmented circulation, it helps establish a closer visual relationship between the hotel and the dry Cycladic landscape.

 

A unified identity

The central objective of the redesign is the aesthetic unification of a complex that had undergone successive alterations since its original development.

Rather than treating each room, communal area or outdoor space as an independent intervention, the project introduces a common spatial and material vocabulary across the hotel.

The network of sheltered paths, cave-like interiors, planted areas and earth-toned materials also responds to the climatic conditions of Mykonos, creating areas protected from sun and wind while retaining visual contact with the surrounding landscape.

The result is a hospitality environment organized around a gradual alternation between enclosure and openness, communal activity and privacy, built surfaces and vegetation.

 

The project was first published in print in ek299 | July–August 2025, in the INTERIORS section. 

A listed 19th-century residence in Vaporia, Syros, is converted into a five-star hotel through the restoration of its stone fabric, painted ceilings and marble surfaces, while former cisterns are repurposed as wellness spaces.

Argini Hotel Syros, with interior design by Costas Gagos Architecture & Design and Tree Company, occupies a listed neoclassical residence in the Vaporia district of Ermoupolis. Originally built in the 19th century as the home of Grigoris Paikos, a member of the Filiki Eteria, the building was restored and adapted into a five-star hotel while retaining significant elements of its historic fabric.

The programme comprises seven rooms and four suites, together with a restaurant, a bar overlooking the Aegean and a wellness area with a hammam, jacuzzi and indoor swimming pool. The intervention is structured around the relationship between the existing masonry, restored decorative elements and new hospitality functions.

 

Preserving the existing stone structure

The original masonry remains one of the defining elements of the hotel.

Stone walls, in some areas reaching 1.20m in thickness, are retained and left visible, allowing the construction and scale of the former residence to remain legible. Natural stone is combined with marble throughout the communal spaces, circulation areas and guestrooms.

Rather than covering the historic structure with a uniform contemporary layer, the intervention preserves differences in texture, material and ornament. New elements are inserted within this framework while maintaining the presence of the original building.

 

Marble throughout the interior

Marble provides a recurring material connection between different parts of the hotel.

Geometric marble floors in the common areas refer to the original character of the residence while introducing a more contemporary composition. The approach continues through corridors and shared rooms, establishing a consistent material language.

Different varieties are used in the guest bathrooms, including white Dionysos marble, green Tinos marble and dark Grigio Carnico. Variations in colour and veining distinguish the individual spaces while retaining continuity across the project.

 

Restoring the painted ceilings

The restoration of the painted ceilings in the guestrooms and suites was among the most demanding parts of the renovation.

The surviving ceiling and wall paintings, produced by Italian and local artists, include folkloric references, figures associated with the Greek Revolution and Renaissance motifs. Their conservation allows these decorative layers to remain central to the identity of the rooms.

Contemporary furniture and lighting remain comparatively restrained around them, allowing the original proportions, high ceilings and painted surfaces to retain visual prominence.

The contrast between restored decoration and simpler contemporary interventions avoids the literal reconstruction of a historical interior.

 

Shared spaces and the internal courtyard

The communal programme unfolds through a sequence of interiors where historic architectural elements coexist with new uses.

Exposed stone, timber floors, marble surfaces and existing openings remain visible, while contemporary furniture and lighting support the hotel programme without obscuring the original fabric.

The internal courtyard extends the communal areas outdoors. Its exposed masonry façades frame a protected exterior space and reinforce the continuity between the different parts of the historic building.

 

Wellness spaces inside the former cisterns

The building’s old cisterns acquire a new function as wellness and relaxation areas.

Their vaulted geometry accommodates the hammam and the heated indoor swimming pool with jacuzzi. Stone and marble surfaces are combined with indirect lighting, emphasizing the enclosed character and curvature of the existing volumes.

The intervention therefore makes use of the spatial qualities of these former service areas rather than erasing their previous character. Their mass, materiality and vaulted construction remain visible within the new programme.

 

Adaptive reuse of a historic residence

Argini Hotel Syros is defined by the coexistence of preserved architectural elements and contemporary hospitality functions.

Stone masonry, painted ceilings and geometric marble floors retain the connection with the building’s history, while guestrooms, restaurant, bar and wellness areas accommodate its new use.

The project approaches restoration as a process of selective preservation and adaptation. Historic materials, ornament and spatial proportions remain visible, while contemporary additions are integrated without attempting to imitate the original architecture.

 

The project was first published in print in ek292 | November 2024, in the CITY section.

Walnut, natural stone and aged oak define the renovation of a 141m² duplex beneath the rooftops of Paris, where a sculptural spiral stair and reflective surfaces distribute natural light across the two levels.

Stairway to Heaven in Paris by Véronique Cotrel is a 141m² duplex apartment on the top floor of a 17th-century mansion in the Marais district. The interior was completely reconfigured, with the removal of the existing partitions and the reorganization of the main floor, while two additional bedrooms were incorporated into the mezzanine level.

A master suite and an open kitchen complete the new programme. Throughout the apartment, walnut and stone establish a continuous material language, introducing warmth and texture within the open, light-filled interior.

 

 

Reorganizing the duplex

The renovation begins with the complete restructuring of the existing plan.

The principal floor is opened up, while the upper level accommodates two additional bedrooms. The new organization makes use of the apartment’s position beneath the pitched roof, treating the two levels as interconnected parts of a single interior rather than as separate floors.

The open kitchen becomes part of the main living area, while the master suite is incorporated into the reorganized lower level. Rather than relying on a large variety of finishes, the design establishes continuity through the repetition and contrast of a limited number of materials.

 

Walnut and stone

Walnut runs throughout the apartment as one of its principal materials.

Its dark, warm surface contrasts with the mineral character of the stone, allowing each material to become more clearly perceptible. The combination establishes a restrained palette with references to the interiors of the 1970s, without reproducing the period literally.

The relationship between timber and stone also creates continuity between the different functions of the apartment. Rather than defining each room through an independent material treatment, the same palette reappears across living areas, kitchen and private spaces.

A spiral stair at the centre

A white spiral stair becomes a central element within the main living space.

The stair connects the principal floor with the mezzanine, while its base is finished in Serpeggiante Grey marble. The stone gives visual weight to the lower section, while the light-coloured spiral rises more discreetly through the space.

Its sculptural geometry introduces a curved element within an interior otherwise characterized by the linear surfaces of walnut panelling, flooring and furniture.

Positioned within the social area, the stair is not treated solely as circulation. It participates directly in the composition of the living room and reinforces the visual relationship between the two levels.

 

Reflecting natural light

Improving the distribution of natural light was another central aspect of the renovation.

The apartment sits directly beneath the roof and receives daylight through windows projecting from the pitched surface. Their lateral reveals are clad with mirrors, reflecting light deeper into the interior while visually extending the space.

The mirrored surfaces also introduce fragments of the exterior vegetation into the interior through reflection, expanding the visual field around the windows.

This approach uses existing architectural conditions as part of the lighting strategy rather than relying exclusively on additional artificial illumination.

 

Privacy on the mezzanine

Natural light is also extended towards the bedrooms positioned on the mezzanine.

To allow daylight to pass between the different volumes without compromising privacy, the separating elements incorporate fluted-glass skylights. Their translucent surfaces filter light while limiting direct views between the rooms.

The treatment gives the upper level a degree of visual permeability while maintaining the separation required by the bedrooms.

Glass therefore acts as an intermediate material between transparency and enclosure, complementing the heavier surfaces of walnut and stone elsewhere in the apartment.

 

Aged oak underfoot

The floor is finished with aged light-oak parquet composed of long, narrow strips.

The lighter timber provides a counterpoint to the darker walnut surfaces and reinforces the overall brightness of the apartment. Its linear pattern also establishes continuity across the open plan and provides a common background for furniture and built-in elements.

Together, walnut, stone, glass and oak establish the material identity of the residence. Their contrasts remain controlled, allowing daylight and the changing conditions beneath the Parisian roofscape to become an active part of the interior.

 

The project was first published in print in Apartments 2024, the annual international edition of ek Architectural Publications.

On an exceptionally narrow plot in Porto, a residential building combines eleven apartments within a compact volume, using a central stair core, varied duplex configurations and a concrete façade articulated by large arches and planted balconies.

Boavista 339 in Porto by Paulo Merlini architects is a 650m² residential building completed in 2023 on Rua de Agramonte. Developed on a plot of only 88m², with a 5.50m frontage and a rear elevation narrowing to just 2.00m, the project responds to an unusually constrained urban condition through a compact organization of studio and one-bedroom apartments.

Rather than treating the irregular site as a limitation to be concealed, the design uses its proportions to determine the building’s circulation, apartment typologies and relationship with natural light. A central stair core frees both façades, while a varied arrangement of apartments on one and two levels makes more efficient use of the available floor area.

 

A central core on a narrow urban plot

The stairwell is positioned at the centre of the building, following a distribution principle associated with Porto’s narrow urban plots.

Placing circulation away from the perimeter releases the front and rear façades for openings and allows daylight to reach deeper into the apartments. At the same time, it reduces the amount of space required for external corridors and maximizes the usable residential area.

This compact organization makes it possible to accommodate eleven independent units within the building while maintaining a range of different internal configurations.

A small commercial space occupies the ground floor and is extended by a patio towards the rear, introducing an additional programme without compromising the residential organization above.

 

Apartments on one and two levels

The restricted dimensions of the site lead to a more complex sectional organization rather than a repeated standard floor.

Apartments on one and two levels are combined throughout the upper part of the building, allowing the architects to adapt the available volume to different domestic layouts.

Although the individual units vary, their constituent elements are standardized where possible. This approach reconciles spatial diversity with construction efficiency, creating different apartment types without requiring each to be treated as a completely independent system.

The variation in section becomes particularly important on a site where horizontal expansion is severely limited. The building therefore develops its residential density through vertical connections and overlapping configurations.

 

Concrete arches open the façades

Given the limited dimensions of the apartments, both elevations are opened as much as possible to increase the perception of space and access to natural light.

Large concrete arches connect the openings and give the façade its principal architectural expression. Rather than appearing as isolated windows, the openings are visually linked into a continuous composition that emphasizes the vertical development of the building.

The curved geometry also softens the otherwise compact concrete elevation. According to the architects, the arch was selected not only as a compositional device but also for its relationship to the scale and movement of the human body.

On the main façade, the arches frame access to shallow balconies measuring approximately 0.60m in depth, recalling a recurring feature of Porto’s residential architecture.

 

Privacy behind planted balconies

The extensive openings required an additional layer of privacy between the apartments and the street.

Planters approximately 0.80m high are positioned along the façade to interrupt direct sightlines from public space. Vegetation consequently becomes part of the architectural composition rather than a secondary decorative addition.

The planted edge establishes distance between the interior and the street while preserving daylight and outward views. It also introduces a softer element against the exposed concrete, reinforcing the depth of the façade and the intermediate character of the balconies.

The frontage is therefore composed through several layers: the interior, the glazed openings, the planted edge, the concrete arches and, finally, the street.

 

Reinterpreting Porto’s residential typology

Despite its distinctive façade, Boavista 339 develops from familiar principles of Porto’s urban housing.

The narrow plot, centrally positioned circulation, shallow balconies and vertically organized apartments are reworked within a contemporary concrete structure. The project does not reproduce a historical façade, but adapts established local patterns of occupation and circulation to a constrained contemporary residential programme.

Paulo Merlini architects use the peculiar geometry of the site to generate a dense but varied building, where eleven units coexist within a highly restricted footprint.

The result is defined by the relationship between efficiency and architectural identity: a compact internal organization is combined with an open façade whose arches, vegetation and balconies mediate between the apartments and the city.

A typical Athenian apartment in Pangrati is reorganized around natural light and spatial continuity, combining an open living area with restored herringbone parquet and a continuous timber volume that conceals secondary functions.

The Apartment in Pangrati by Narration Architects reinterprets the conventional layout of an Athenian residence through a series of targeted interventions. Unnecessary partitions and a dark internal corridor are removed, allowing natural light to penetrate deeper into the apartment and creating a more continuous relationship between the main living spaces.

Rather than replacing the original character of the interior, the renovation combines new spatial elements with existing materials. The restored herringbone timber floor extends through the unified areas, while integrated furniture and timber cladding organize storage, circulation and secondary functions within a restrained material palette.

 

An open-plan living area

The reorganization of the plan focuses on removing the fragmentation of the existing apartment.

The former corridor and unnecessary partitions give way to an open sequence of spaces where kitchen, dining and living areas remain visually connected. Natural light can consequently move more freely through the interior, while circulation becomes part of the main living space rather than a separate zone.

The intervention establishes a clearer hierarchy between the principal domestic functions without relying on additional walls. Furniture, material transitions and built-in elements instead provide more subtle forms of spatial definition.

 

The kitchen as a social core

The kitchen becomes the centre of the new organization.

Positioned in direct relation to the living room, it is designed as an active social space rather than a separate functional area. A central island accommodates dining and gathering, responding to the owners’ request for an open setting for everyday meals and entertaining.

Its central position reinforces the continuity of the plan and allows activities traditionally distributed among different rooms to coexist within the same open environment.

The kitchen consequently operates as both a working surface and a point of social interaction, connecting the different areas of the apartment.

 

A timber volume conceals secondary functions

One of the principal interventions is the integration of the bathroom behind continuous timber cladding.

A concealed door provides access to the bathroom, allowing its entrance and associated utility functions to disappear within a clean wooden volume. The element introduces a warmer material presence while reducing visual fragmentation in the main living space.

Rather than treating storage and secondary rooms as independent components, the design incorporates them within a single architectural surface.

The timber volume therefore operates simultaneously as enclosure, storage and spatial organizer, establishing a quieter background for the more open parts of the residence.

 

Restoring the original herringbone floor

The existing herringbone timber flooring forms an important connection with the apartment’s previous configuration.

Instead of being replaced, it is restored and extended across the newly unified spaces. The continuity of the parquet helps connect areas that were previously separated by walls and circulation zones, while maintaining a material reference to the original apartment.

The intervention uses the existing floor as an active part of the new spatial organization rather than simply preserving it as a historical detail.

Its texture and warm tone also provide a counterpoint to the cleaner surfaces and integrated elements introduced by the renovation.

 

 

Low elements and visual continuity

In the living room, horizontal lines and low furniture preserve long views across the apartment and reinforce the sense of openness.

The same principle is transferred to the bedroom, where a low ledge runs behind the bed and is completed by a slim timber shelf. Integrated niches replace conventional bedside tables, incorporating everyday functions directly into the architectural composition.

The use of low elements reduces visual obstruction and allows the proportions of the existing rooms to remain clearly perceived.

Natural materials, neutral tones and controlled lighting complete the interior, with new interventions remaining deliberately restrained in relation to the existing apartment.

 

Continuity rather than fragmentation

The renovation is ultimately based on reducing the number of independent spatial elements.

Walls are removed where separation is no longer necessary, while storage, access to secondary spaces and furniture are consolidated into continuous architectural components.

Narration Architects use the restored parquet, timber cladding and open relationship between kitchen and living room to establish a more connected domestic environment without erasing the apartment’s existing character.

The result is a contemporary urban interior shaped by natural light, material continuity and a clearer relationship between circulation and everyday living.

Corporate orange, exposed building services and warmer timber surfaces define the 600m² headquarters of technology company M-STAT in Athens, combining the visual language of technical infrastructure with more informal modes of working.

The M-Stat Headquarters in Athens by Minos Digenis Arquitectos transforms a 600m² open floor into the offices of a technology company active in mobile communication services. Two ideas establish the identity of the interior: the use of M-STAT’s corporate orange as a recurring visual element and the decision to leave the building services exposed as a reference to the technological character of the company.

Rather than concealing the technical infrastructure above a conventional suspended ceiling, cables, ducts and pipes become part of the architectural composition. Their orange finish extends the company’s visual identity through the workspace and turns an otherwise functional layer into one of the most recognizable elements of the project.

 

Technical infrastructure as interior architecture

The exposed services run beneath a lowered ceiling line at approximately 2.50m, creating a dense horizontal layer above the working areas.

Painting this network orange brings together the project’s two principal concepts: corporate identity and the visible presence of technology. The ceiling consequently operates less as a neutral background and more as an active component of the interior.

Against this technical layer, the remaining surfaces are deliberately quieter. The contrast makes the infrastructure legible while giving the workplace a consistent visual identity across its different functions.

 

Different settings for everyday work

The programme combines workstations and meeting rooms with areas organized according to different levels and forms of activity.

Rather than interpreting the headquarters solely as a collection of conventional desks and enclosed meeting rooms, the layout incorporates informal meeting points and spaces for breaks and social interaction.

A recreation area with a ping-pong table introduces a more relaxed use, while an open kitchen provides a shared setting where employees can meet during breakfast or lunch.

These programmes extend everyday working life beyond the individual workstation and establish a range of spaces for concentrated work, meetings and informal exchange.

 

A warmer workplace

Alongside the more technical expression of the exposed installations, the project introduces materials and elements associated with a warmer, more domestic environment.

Timber plays an important role in moderating the industrial character of the ceiling infrastructure. Its natural surface provides a tactile counterpoint to the exposed technical elements and the strong orange colour.

Planting introduces another layer within the workplace. Rather than functioning simply as decoration, greenery contributes to the definition of shared areas and reinforces the intention to create an environment less closely associated with the conventional corporate office.

The result combines two deliberately different registers: an exposed technological infrastructure overhead and a more informal, tactile environment at the level of everyday occupation.

 

Corporate identity beyond graphics

Colour is used as an architectural device rather than as an applied graphic layer.

By extending M-STAT’s orange across the visible cables, pipes and ducts, the design connects the company’s identity with the actual technical systems that support the workplace. Branding and infrastructure therefore occupy the same physical layer.

The strategy gives the headquarters a recognizable character without depending on an accumulation of signs or decorative references to the company.

Minos Digenis Arquitectos use the existing open floor, exposed services, timber and shared social areas to establish a workplace where technological identity and everyday comfort coexist within the same interior.

 

The project was first published in print in ek magazine 290 | September 2024, a monthly issue by ek Architectural Publications.

Two equal residences on the sloping landscape of Bouros, Karystos, combine autonomous living with a shared architectural identity, using orientation, deep openings and an intermediate void to frame the Aegean horizon.

Seametry Villas in Bouros, Karystos by MRV Architects comprises two equivalent residences conceived as independent volumes within a unified composition. The design responds to the sloping terrain, open horizon and particular conditions of the site, balancing the autonomy of each house with the coherence of the ensemble.

Rather than dividing a single building into two units, the project establishes two clearly defined volumes of equal scale, proportion and functional value. Their relationship is shaped through distance, orientation and a shared ground that integrates the architecture with the topography.

 

Two equal and autonomous volumes

The two residences are conceived as equivalent rather than primary and secondary elements.

Each retains its independence and privacy, while their proportions and architectural language establish a clear relationship between them. The space separating the buildings is therefore not treated as residual.

Instead, the intermediate void becomes a deliberately designed part of the composition: a threshold, passage and arrival zone that simultaneously distinguishes and connects the two houses.

This arrangement gives the project a sense of balance without relying on strict symmetry. The identity of the ensemble emerges from the relationship between the two autonomous volumes and the space that remains between them.

 

Oriented towards the sea

Both residences turn towards the open horizon and the sea.

Deeply recessed openings create shaded frames that protect the interiors from the intensity of Mediterranean light while directing views towards the landscape. The openings therefore perform both environmental and spatial roles, controlling sunlight while reinforcing the orientation of everyday life towards the exterior.

The architecture remains deliberately restrained. Simple geometries and controlled proportions allow the relationship with the terrain, daylight and distant horizon to become more prominent than individual formal gestures.

The depth of the openings also creates a gradual transition between enclosed rooms and the exterior, avoiding an abrupt boundary between the two.

 

 

A shared base follows the terrain

The common base of the composition responds to the natural slope of the site.

Rather than establishing a level platform independent from the existing topography, the different levels follow the terrain and allow the two buildings to settle into the incline. The architectural organization therefore develops together with the section of the site rather than against it.

This relationship reduces the visual autonomy of the individual volumes and reinforces their reading as parts of a single ensemble.

At the same time, the positioning of the houses maintains the openness of the site. Horizon, wind and natural light remain active components of the experience rather than elements viewed from behind a continuous architectural boundary.

 

Privacy within a common identity

The project is ultimately defined by the balance between independence and proximity.

The two residences share the same architectural principles without becoming a single building. The intermediate space provides separation and orientation, while the shared base and consistent geometry establish continuity.

MRV Architects use a limited number of spatial operations—two autonomous volumes, a designed void, deep openings and a terrain-responsive base—to create a contemporary form of coastal living in which privacy and collective identity coexist.

The architecture remains measured in relation to its setting, directing the experience of the houses towards the sea, natural light and open horizon.

Terrazzo, timber, steel and glass establish a restrained material language in a 350m² penthouse in Tel Aviv, where changing natural light becomes an active element of the interior.

The Penthouse in Tel Aviv by Pitsou Kedem Architects occupies the top of a residential tower in the centre of the city, along a street connecting a busy market with the sea. The 350m² interior is organized around a deliberately limited palette of terrazzo, timber, steel and glass, whose different surfaces respond to the changing natural light throughout the day.

Rather than relying on a broad range of finishes, the project establishes continuity through repetition. The same materials return across floors, walls, furniture and circulation elements, giving the apartment a coherent identity while allowing variations in texture, reflection and shadow to distinguish individual areas.

 

Terrazzo as a continuous surface

Light terrazzo becomes the principal material of the apartment.

Composed of white concrete with grey stone fragments, the material refers to a familiar element of Tel Aviv’s domestic architecture, where terrazzo was widely used during the modernist period of the 1950s.

In the penthouse, it extends across the flooring and continues vertically onto the principal walls surrounding the structural core of the tower. This repetition gives the central part of the apartment a monolithic quality while establishing continuity between horizontal and vertical surfaces.

Its pale tone reflects natural light, while the grey fragments become more or less visible according to the changing conditions throughout the day. The material therefore provides a relatively neutral background without becoming visually uniform.

Timber as a warmer counterpoint

Against the mineral character of the terrazzo, timber veneer introduces a warmer layer.

Its natural tones create contrast with the pale floor and wall surfaces, while changes in daylight emphasize the depth and grain of the material. Rather than introducing a separate decorative language, timber operates within the same restrained palette and moderates the cooler character of the stone, steel and glass.

The relationship between the two materials is based on contrast rather than similarity: terrazzo provides visual continuity and brightness, while timber introduces texture and warmth.

 

A steel library within the central space

A custom-made white steel library becomes one of the principal elements within the main living area.

Designed with thin profiles and a restrained geometry, it operates simultaneously as storage, architectural partition and technical enclosure. Its rear surface is clad in terrazzo, reinforcing its connection with the material treatment of the central core.

The library also conceals the air-conditioning unit, integrating part of the technical equipment into the furniture rather than allowing it to interrupt the visual continuity of the interior.

White-painted steel gives the element a lighter presence against the denser terrazzo surfaces, while its sharp edges generate changing shadows as daylight moves through the apartment.

A white steel stair towards the roof

The white steel stair leading to the rooftop terrace is another defining element of the penthouse.

Positioned beneath a skylight and next to a glass wall, it is exposed to changing natural light throughout the day. Metal strips filter the light and cast alternating shadows across the stair and surrounding surfaces.

The stair is therefore both a circulation element and a device for registering time. Its white finish connects it visually with the steel library, while the combination of steel and glass distinguishes it from the more solid terrazzo core.

 

Carrara marble in the bathrooms

In the bathrooms, Carrara marble replaces the terrazzo while maintaining the grey-and-white palette that defines the rest of the apartment.

The shift in material differentiates these more private spaces without introducing an unrelated visual language. The veining and softer surface of the marble add variation while remaining compatible with the overall restrained treatment.

Across the apartment, the material selection is therefore less about creating individual decorative moments and more about establishing controlled variations within a consistent system.

Material and light as a unified language

The interior is ultimately defined by the repeated relationship between terrazzo, timber, steel and glass.

The terrazzo establishes continuity across the central surfaces, timber introduces warmth, white steel defines furniture and circulation elements, and glass allows natural light to penetrate deeper into the space.

Pitsou Kedem Architects use this limited palette to give the apartment a coherent architectural identity while allowing light and shadow to continually alter its appearance.

 

The project was first published in print in Apartments 2025, an annual edition by ek Architectural Publications.

A white architectural shell, mint-green volumes and suspended oak elements reorganize a duplex apartment in Koukaki around light, colour and a restrained Mediterranean material palette.

Casa Menta in Athens by Space is around us is the renovation of a duplex apartment in Koukaki, conceived around the light, colours and material character of the Mediterranean landscape.

The intervention transforms a conventional interior dating from the 2000s into a clearer and more restrained domestic environment. Rather than introducing complexity through multiple materials or decorative gestures, the design reduces the interior to a continuous white architectural backdrop against which colour, furniture and everyday functions are carefully positioned.

 

Shared and private areas across two levels

The functional organization follows the existing division of the duplex.

The entrance level accommodates the shared living spaces, while the upper floor contains the private rooms. On the lower level, the previously undivided open-plan area is reorganized into three distinct but visually connected zones: kitchen, dining area and living room.

This differentiation is achieved without fragmenting the interior with additional partitions. Instead, furniture, colour and fixed elements define the individual functions while preserving visual continuity across the floor.

The arrangement allows the principal living spaces to remain open and flexible, while the upper level develops a more private domestic character.

 

A white shell as a neutral background

White surfaces establish the principal architectural language of the apartment.

Inspired by the whitewashed surfaces of Mediterranean architecture, the walls and ceilings form a continuous backdrop that reflects natural light and reinforces the sense of openness across both levels.

The intention is not to recreate a literal Mediterranean interior. Instead, the white shell creates a neutral field against which colour, texture and domestic functions can acquire greater definition.

The restrained treatment also reduces the visual weight of the existing apartment, allowing selected objects and built-in elements to become more prominent.

 

Existing materials retained and updated

Part of the intervention focuses on adapting rather than replacing the materials already present in the apartment.

The cement screed covering the communal spaces and the stair was updated with a continuous light-grey finish, establishing a neutral ground across the shared areas.

By contrast, the original timber parquet in the bedrooms was carefully restored. Its warmer material character differentiates the private spaces from the more mineral surfaces of the lower level.

This relationship between continuity and contrast allows the existing fabric to remain part of the new interior without dictating its overall character.

 

Floating volumes and integrated furniture

A series of lightweight elements introduces both function and colour within the white shell.

The mint-green kitchen becomes one of the most prominent volumes on the entrance level. Suspended oak furniture reinforces the impression of lightness, while storage and fixed elements are integrated into the architecture rather than treated as independent objects.

The white stair is conceived as a sculptural element within the duplex. Its continuous form contributes to the visual connection between the two levels while maintaining the restrained material language of the apartment.

Together, these elements organize everyday activities without overloading the interior.

 

Mint green as a recurring accent

Colour plays a central role in the identity of Casa Menta.

The palette draws on seafoam, olive trees, sun-bleached stone and pastel tones associated with Mediterranean landscapes. Within the predominantly white and light-grey interior, mint green becomes a recurring element that links different parts of the apartment.

The colour appears most clearly in the kitchen and returns in selected details throughout the residence.

Deeper green tones are concentrated in the bathroom, where the shower area becomes a more monolithic and visually intense element. The contrast introduces variation without disrupting the broader sense of continuity.

 

Lightness in everyday use

Storage, circulation and furniture are incorporated as part of the architectural composition.

Rather than filling the rooms with freestanding elements, the project integrates many everyday functions into suspended or visually lightweight volumes. This keeps the principal spaces open and allows movement between the different zones to remain unobstructed.

The result is an interior where the architectural shell remains deliberately quiet. White surfaces, restored timber, light-grey flooring and green accents form a limited palette, while natural light becomes one of the principal elements defining the changing atmosphere of the apartment.

Casa Menta ultimately combines functional reorganization with a reduced material language. Through colour, suspended elements and the selective retention of existing materials, Space is around us establishes a contemporary domestic environment shaped by clarity, light and a measured reference to the Mediterranean landscape.

A compact white volume gradually opens towards the Pacific landscape through a circular courtyard, a curved concrete wall and a broad roof that reduces the architecture to shelter, shade and framed views.

 

Casa Malonic in Zihuatanejo by HW Studio is a 497m² residence in Punta Garrobo, Guerrero, completed in June 2026. Surrounded by tropical vegetation and overlooking the sea, the house develops through a deliberate transition from enclosure towards openness, using a limited number of architectural elements to regulate privacy, movement and contact with the landscape.

Rather than treating the building as an autonomous object within the site, the design establishes a sequence between street, courtyard, interior and horizon. A continuous roof provides shade, while walls and voids progressively direct the body and the gaze towards the surrounding vegetation and the Pacific Ocean.

 

Shelter as an elementary condition

The conceptual starting point is the enramada, understood as a simple shelter beneath a canopy rather than as a literal reference to vernacular form.

Ground, roof and shade become the project’s fundamental elements. The architecture provides protection from rain and sun while allowing the landscape to remain continuously present around the inhabited areas.

This approach also determines the scale and openness of the main spaces. Rather than framing the horizon as a conventional view from inside a room, the organization of the house develops around its permanent presence.

 

A closed condition towards the street

From the road, Casa Malonic appears as a contained white volume accompanied by a single curved concrete wall.

Following the geometry of the street, the wall establishes a first boundary between the public approach and the private residence. Vegetation, rocks and the natural topography reinforce this protected condition, limiting direct views into the house.

The entrance sequence therefore delays the full perception of the site. The landscape is revealed gradually through movement rather than being immediately exposed from the point of arrival.

This contrast between enclosure and openness becomes one of the main organizing principles of the project.

 

A circular courtyard as a spatial void

The path leads towards a circular courtyard enclosed by white walls.

Here, the relationship with the surroundings changes. Tree canopies, sky and sunlight become visible above the perimeter, while the circular void interrupts the otherwise solid architectural mass.

The courtyard operates simultaneously as an exterior room, a source of natural light and a transitional space. The wall no longer functions simply as an enclosure, but as an edge that frames selected elements of the landscape.

Its geometry also establishes a clear sequence through the house: from the street to a protected interior condition, from there to the courtyard, and eventually towards the open horizon.

 

From enclosure to the horizon

Beyond the courtyard, the building progressively loses the compact character presented towards the street.

The architecture becomes lighter and more open until the roof emerges as the principal element defining the inhabited space. Rather than relying on a continuous envelope, the house establishes shade and protection while maintaining extensive visual contact with the landscape.

The sequence is based on a small number of spatial operations: containment, movement, subtraction and opening.

Solid elements provide privacy where required, while voids introduce light, vegetation and long views. The relationship between mass and absence becomes more important than the formal autonomy of the individual rooms.

 

Material continuity with the site

The treatment of the ground reinforces the relationship with the surrounding landscape.

Its colour and texture recall the sand of the nearby beach, extending a similar material character beneath the roof. The intention is not to reproduce the natural setting literally, but to establish continuity through colour, texture and physical experience.

White surfaces introduce a contrasting element. Their colour relates to the flowers of the nine Cacalosúchil trees surrounding the residence, creating another connection between the constructed volume and the existing vegetation.

The material palette therefore remains deliberately restrained. Ground, white walls, concrete and vegetation provide the main visual and tactile references, allowing changes in light and shadow to remain clearly perceptible throughout the day.

 

Architecture defined by mass and void

Casa Malonic is organized through the gradual transformation of a protected volume into an increasingly open relationship with the site.

The curved wall directs the approach, the circular courtyard removes part of the built mass, and the roof establishes a broad zone of shade towards the landscape. Each element performs a specific spatial role without requiring additional formal complexity.

HW Studio uses this sequence to balance privacy and openness. The house remains closed where it meets the street, becomes porous around the courtyard and finally opens towards the horizon.

The landscape is therefore not treated as a background to the architecture. It becomes the principal condition around which the residence is organized.

A timber school campus immersed in the Uruguayan landscape dissolves the conventional boundary between classroom and park, using spatial diversity, outdoor circulation and direct contact with nature as active components of education.

The Garzón School in Uruguay by Rosan Bosch Studio is conceived as a learning landscape where architecture, interior design and the natural environment operate as a continuous whole.

Set within a 94-acre rural landscape surrounded by eucalyptus forests, meadows and a lake, the campus moves away from the conventional model of classrooms connected by enclosed corridors. Instead, buildings, pathways, plazas, vegetation and open-air areas form a network that allows learning to move between interior and exterior throughout the day.

The project develops around a simple principle: the school is the park and the park is the school. Nature is therefore not treated as a backdrop or an occasional destination, but as part of the everyday structure of learning.

 

Landscape as a learning environment

The organization of the campus begins with its natural setting.

Pathways move through planted areas and connect a series of smaller buildings rather than concentrating the entire programme within a single institutional volume. The resulting arrangement gives the school the character of a small settlement dispersed through the landscape.

Outdoor areas accommodate different scales and forms of activity. Some support gathering and play, while others create more protected conditions for smaller groups or individual work.

Transitions between enclosed rooms, covered areas and open landscape remain gradual. Educational activities can therefore shift according to use, weather conditions, group size or the degree of concentration required.

The landscape does not operate as a decorative perimeter around the architecture. It participates directly in circulation, social interaction and the daily use of the school.

 

Six Learning Worlds

The spatial organization is structured around six design principles developed by Rosan Bosch Studio, described as Learning Worlds: Mountain Top, Cave, Campfire, Watering Hole, Hands-on and Movement.

Each corresponds to a different mode of learning rather than to a conventional classroom type.

The Mountain Top supports presentation, performance and focused communication to a group. The Cave offers smaller settings for concentration, retreat and individual work. The Campfire creates conditions for storytelling, dialogue and shared attention, while the Watering Hole encourages informal exchange and peer-to-peer learning.

Hands-on areas are intended for making, experimentation and practical problem-solving, while Movement recognizes physical activity and play as integral parts of the learning process.

Rather than permanently assigning one activity to one room, these spatial conditions allow students and teachers to move between collective and individual work, concentration and exploration, structured instruction and informal interaction.

 

A timber settlement within the landscape

The campus is constructed entirely from sustainably sourced timber, with the external surfaces treated using the traditional Japanese Shou Sugi Ban technique of charring the outer layer of the material.

The dark façades contrast with the vegetation while retaining the tactile character of the timber. The common treatment also establishes a coherent architectural identity among the different buildings.

Brick plazas introduce another material register, drawing on local Uruguayan architectural traditions. Native vegetation extends between the structures and reinforces the continuity between the built areas and the wider landscape.

Timber, brick and planting therefore establish a deliberately limited material palette, connecting the architecture with both the ecological and cultural characteristics of its setting.

 

Learning between indoors and outdoors

The architecture repeatedly creates intermediate spaces instead of abrupt boundaries.

Covered areas allow activities to extend beyond enclosed rooms. Pathways operate not only as circulation routes but also as places for encounter, observation and informal learning. Plazas accommodate collective activities, while vegetation defines smaller areas with varying degrees of enclosure.

This spatial variety gives students greater choice in how and where they work.

The school consequently functions less as a sequence of predefined classrooms and more as an interconnected system of different learning environments. Moving between them becomes part of the educational experience.

 

Physical experience in the age of AI

The project also responds to a broader discussion surrounding education at a time when digital tools and artificial intelligence increasingly influence how knowledge is accessed and shared.

The Garzón School does not position technology and physical space as opposites. Instead, it emphasizes forms of learning that depend on direct experience: movement, face-to-face interaction, contact with materials, observation and engagement with the natural environment.

Children can make, experiment, play, collaborate and observe changes in the landscape as part of the normal school day.

Physical space therefore becomes an active complement to digital learning, providing experiences that extend beyond the transfer of information.

 

Architecture as pedagogical infrastructure

At The Garzón School, architecture is not treated simply as accommodation for a predefined educational programme.

The relationship with the landscape, the diversity of spatial conditions and the absence of rigid boundaries between learning and circulation create an environment where different forms of activity can coexist.

Rosan Bosch Studio approached the masterplan, landscape architecture, buildings and interiors as interconnected elements of the same educational system.

The result replaces the repeated classroom module with a varied landscape of spaces for concentration, communication, experimentation, movement and collective life. Architecture becomes part of the pedagogical structure itself, while the surrounding landscape participates directly in the everyday experience of learning

An 1893 house in Lisbon’s former industrial district of Marvila is renovated and extended through a sequence of large spatial cuts, raw interior finishes and an ultramarine-blue lime plaster that unifies old and new.

Blue House in Lisbon by extrastudio is the first of three residences developed by the practice under the title casas poveras. Conceived during a period of uncertainty, the series explores an architecture reduced to essential means without compromising spatial generosity. In Blue House, this approach produces a 251m² residence where the existing building, new extension and materials are brought together without concealing their irregularities or traces of construction.

The house stands in Marvila, an area of Lisbon shaped by successive transformations from agricultural land to an industrial district and, more recently, to a concentration of studios and cultural spaces. Rather than erase the modest character of the original house, extrastudio treats it as a record of everyday occupation and uses its existing fabric as the basis for the intervention.

 

Preserving the 1893 house

The project renovates and extends a single-storey residence dating from 1893 while retaining its existing structure.

Architectural elements removed from the original façades were restored and reincorporated into the new elevations. Existing and added surfaces receive the same finish, avoiding a conventional visual distinction between restoration and extension.

The different periods remain legible instead through changes in silhouette and material texture. The intervention consequently preserves the old building without treating it as an untouchable historical object. Its imperfections become part of the character of the new house.

 

Two large spatial cuts

Two principal operations define the new spatial organization.

Towards the street, a cut extending across the full width of the building creates a double-height courtyard. This void provides shade and greater privacy for the bedrooms while establishing an intermediate space between the domestic interior and the street.

On the opposite side, a triple-height interior volume opens towards the garden and reveals the full vertical dimension of the extension. The two voids establish contrasting conditions: a protected courtyard facing the city and a large interior volume directed towards the more private garden.

The rear façade is further interrupted by a vertical strip of light. Generated by a planning constraint that cuts diagonally across one corner of the building, the opening was incorporated into the architectural composition rather than concealed. For a short period towards the end of the day, sunlight penetrates through the narrow cut and moves across the interior.

 

Garage and living space as one environment

The clients introduced an unusual requirement into the domestic programme: the garage had to form part of the living area.

Cars and motorbikes could therefore be worked on without separating this activity from everyday family life. Rather than concealing the garage behind a secondary enclosure, the design accommodates it within the generous, loft-like spatial character requested for the house.

This combination challenges the conventional separation between technical and domestic areas. The scale of the main interior allows different activities to coexist within one continuous environment, turning the garage into part of the inhabited space rather than an ancillary room.

 

Materials decided on site

Once the basic architectural concept had been established, decisions concerning colour, finishes and textures were intentionally left open during the design process.

Many were resolved directly on site in collaboration with the craftsmen and clients. Construction therefore became part of the design process, with individual techniques, tests and material decisions remaining visible in the completed building.

The method gives the residence a deliberately tactile character. Surfaces do not attempt to achieve a standardized level of finish; differences in texture and workmanship are retained as evidence of how the house was made.

 

Aluminium and unfinished grey plaster

The entire ground floor is covered with aluminium sheeting, manually brushed by one of the craftsmen.

The resulting surface is soft and luminous, contrasting with the rougher treatment of the walls. Internally, these are left largely unfinished and covered only with a grey plaster scratch coat discovered during construction.

The economical finish creates continuity between different elements of the interior while introducing a material reference to Marvila’s industrial past. Rather than adding another decorative layer, the grey surface retains the direct character of the construction beneath it.

 

Ultramarine blue as a continuous layer

The defining exterior colour originates from the existing building.

Ultramarine blue is applied as a pigmented lime plaster over the complete volume, visually bringing together the original house and its extension. Because of the instability of the pigment, each façade had to be completed in a single day without visible seams or subsequent repairs.

The method makes variation inherent to the finished surface. Colour becomes both a unifying element and a record of the construction process.

Rather than emphasizing the difference between old and new, the blue creates a more ambiguous reading of the building. Its silhouette and textures reveal the intervention, while the continuous finish gives the house the appearance of a single object.

 

Construction as part of the architecture

Blue House is shaped by the coexistence of preservation, extension and decisions made during construction.

The original structure remains present, while large spatial cuts redefine its relationship with street, garden and natural light. Aluminium, unfinished grey plaster and pigmented lime render create contrasting surfaces whose character depends as much on workmanship as on specification.

Through this approach, extrastudio avoids a strict separation between historical fabric and contemporary intervention. Old and new are brought together by colour and construction while remaining distinguishable through form, texture and the accumulated traces of the existing building.

Original plasterwork, five-metre-high ceilings and a century-old timber staircase provide the framework for the renovation of a 1920s apartment in Kypseli, where new materials, bespoke elements and contemporary technology coexist with the building’s eclectic character.

The Upper House in Athens by A&O Architects and Saint of Athens occupies the first floor of a 1920s building in Kypseli. The 220m² apartment retains characteristics of the eclectic domestic architecture that shaped parts of Athens during the early decades of the 20th century, including ceilings reaching five metres in height, intricate plaster decoration and an unusually generous spatial organization.

Originally built for the family of a Greek industrialist, the residence was reorganized for contemporary use without suppressing these existing qualities. The renovation preserves significant architectural elements while introducing new functions, furniture, finishes and technical systems.

 

 

Preserving the original spatial character

The existing plan provided a sequence of large rooms connected through generous openings, allowing circulation to move easily across the apartment.

Rather than replacing this organization with a radically different layout, the intervention works with the proportions and relationships already present. Two former reception rooms continue to function as living spaces, while a new dining room, principal bedroom with en-suite bathroom, guest bedroom and powder room are incorporated into the domestic programme.

A library, kitchen and pantry complete the arrangement. The functions are distinct, but the existing circulation allows them to remain connected as part of a continuous residential sequence.

At the centre of this relationship between old and new stands the original timber staircase. Carefully preserved, it remains one of the most recognizable elements of the apartment and makes the age of the building immediately legible.

 

Existing ornament as part of the new interior

The original plasterwork is treated as an active architectural layer rather than a decorative remnant.

Ceiling mouldings and ornamental details are retained against a restrained palette, allowing their relief and scale to remain visible. The height of the rooms reinforces their presence and gives the newly introduced furniture and lighting a different scale from that of a conventional contemporary apartment.

The intervention therefore does not attempt to neutralize the eclectic character of the residence. Instead, contemporary additions are inserted within the existing setting, producing deliberate contrasts between historic ornament, modern furniture and new material surfaces.

 

 

Bespoke elements and individual rooms

Custom-made elements play an important role throughout the apartment. A specially designed wardrobe, wall panelling and Japanese wallpaper introduce distinct identities to individual rooms without disconnecting them from the overall composition.

The new elements operate at different scales. Some become part of the architectural surfaces, while others appear as individual pieces of furniture or joinery.

Designer furniture, lighting, contemporary ceiling fans, artworks and objects collected by the occupants are combined with the existing architecture. Their arrangement gives each room a distinct character while preserving the sense that the apartment has accumulated different layers over time.

Rather than pursuing uniformity, the project allows variations in colour, material and furnishing from one room to another.

 

Timber flooring and Greek marble

The material palette connects the different areas while maintaining the contrast between the restored shell and the contemporary intervention.

Chevron timber flooring extends through the principal rooms and establishes a continuous geometric background. Greek marble is introduced alongside it in selected surfaces, particularly in the bathrooms and other areas where a more mineral finish is required.

Timber also appears in the original staircase and in new custom-made elements, allowing historic and contemporary components to share a common material reference without being visually identical.

The combination of timber, marble, painted surfaces, wallpaper and existing plaster decoration creates an interior defined by different textures rather than by a single uniform finish.

 

 

Contemporary systems within a historic apartment

The renovation also incorporates current domestic technology into the historic shell.

Internet of Things systems and contemporary heating and cooling equipment improve the everyday operation of the apartment while remaining visually secondary to the architectural character of the rooms. The technical upgrade is therefore integrated without turning the residence into an overtly technological environment.

This relationship between infrastructure and preservation is central to the project. Contemporary comfort is introduced within an existing spatial framework rather than used as a reason to erase it.

 

A contemporary layer within a 1920s interior

The Upper House is ultimately organized around the coexistence of different periods.

The original proportions, staircase and plaster decoration preserve the architectural identity of the 1920s residence. New joinery, wallpaper, furniture, lighting and technical systems introduce another layer corresponding to present-day domestic life.

A&O Architects and Saint of Athens therefore approach the renovation not as a reconstruction of a historical interior, but as an addition to its ongoing history. The existing building remains clearly visible while contemporary interventions establish a new domestic environment around it.

 

The project was first published in print in Apartments 2025, an annual edition by ek Architectural Publications.

A compact cubic residence in Kanoni uses recesses, courtyards and carefully positioned openings to mediate between domestic privacy, planting and the heterogeneous urban fabric of Corfu.

The Habitus Project by Thymi Architects is located in Kanoni, Corfu, within a transitional area between the urban and suburban fabric. Rather than seeking a formal reference in the heterogeneous architecture of the surrounding neighbourhood, the residence develops its relationship with the context through controlled views, planted setbacks and a sequence of intermediate spaces.

The house is conceived as a compact volume in which voids and openings acquire a defining role. Its architecture does not rely on direct visual exposure towards the surroundings. Instead, different depths, frames and thresholds establish a selective relationship between interior spaces, garden and neighbourhood.

 

Subtraction from a compact volume

The architectural composition develops through a process of subtraction from an initially cubic mass. Recesses, voids and openings articulate the otherwise restrained form and determine relationships between different parts of the house.

The openings vary according to orientation, programme and the degree of exposure required. Deep apertures frame specific views towards the neighbourhood and landscape, while narrower vertical cuts introduce controlled daylight. Elsewhere, larger openings reinforce continuity between the living spaces and the garden.

On the principal façade, the recessed ground floor creates a protected entrance threshold and adds depth to the elevation. On the upper level, another subtraction forms an internal courtyard, introducing daylight, vegetation and an outdoor area within the compact volume.

The result is a façade shaped less through applied elements than through shadow, depth and the changing relationship between solid and void.

 

Planted setbacks as part of the house

The mandatory distances between the building and the boundaries of the plot are incorporated into the architectural composition rather than treated as residual strips of land.

Planting establishes a first layer of separation from the street and adjacent buildings. Boundaries, vegetation and openings work together to maintain contact with the neighbourhood while moderating visibility and protecting the privacy of the interior.

This strategy allows the residence to retain a degree of inwardness without becoming isolated. The surrounding urban fabric remains present, but is repeatedly selected, concealed or framed through architecture and landscape.

 

Living spaces connected with the garden

The residence develops across three levels. The principal domestic spaces occupy the ground and upper floors, while ancillary functions are accommodated in the basement.

On the ground floor, kitchen, dining and living areas form a continuous space in direct relationship with the garden. Although visually connected, the different functions maintain their individual character through the arrangement of fixed elements and changes in material treatment.

The staircase occupies the core of the composition. More than a means of vertical circulation, it establishes visual relationships between the levels and contributes to the spatial continuity of the house.

The design therefore extends connection not only horizontally towards the garden, but also vertically through the interior.

 

An internal courtyard for the private level

On the upper floor, the main bedroom and ancillary functions are arranged around the internal courtyard.

The courtyard operates simultaneously as a source of natural light, a planted outdoor space and a means of maintaining privacy. Rather than opening the private rooms directly towards the surrounding buildings, it creates a protected external environment within the volume itself.

This inward-facing landscape is balanced by selected views towards the wider context. The house continually alternates between openness and enclosure, using each opening to establish a specific degree of visual connection.

 

A restrained material palette

The material approach follows the same principle of restraint that governs the spatial composition. A limited number of materials recur throughout the residence and help define its different zones.

Timber wall linings and integrated storage elements establish continuity across the interiors and give functional definition to the open living areas. Dark metal window frames emphasize the depth and precision of the apertures, reinforcing their character as cuts within the compact building mass.

A continuous cement-based finish creates visually uninterrupted surfaces, while marble is introduced selectively in floors, steps and individual details.

The limited palette allows changes in daylight and shadow to remain clearly perceptible. Material surfaces operate as a background against which the geometry of the openings and the movement of natural light become more prominent.

 

Framing the suburban context

The Habitus Project responds to the heterogeneous character of its surroundings without adopting the forms of the neighbouring buildings.

Instead, architecture becomes a means of regulating the relationship with the context. Voids, boundaries, planting and openings determine what remains visible, what is protected and how the transition from private interior to neighbourhood is experienced.

Through this system, the house maintains both connection and distance. The changing daylight, planted areas and selected views of the surrounding fabric become part of everyday domestic life, while the compact volume preserves a clear sense of privacy.