Astir Marina was the first marina in Greece developed exclusively for tourist vessels. Built in Vouliagmeni during the early 1960s, it occupies a coastal site distinguished by its natural landscape and archaeological significance.

Its redevelopment began in 2013 with two principal objectives. The existing port infrastructure had to accommodate the increased operational requirements of a home port for mega and superyachts. At the same time, the land zone was reimagined as a destination combining tourism, leisure, retail, dining and marina administration.

KSE Studio prepared the preliminary master plan for the land zone. AETER Architects subsequently developed the final land-zone master plan and designed the new buildings. Neiheiser Argyros were responsible for the landscape architecture and public realm.

The port works were delivered in 2023, while construction on the land zone was completed in May 2024.

 

 

A new programme along the waterfront

The redevelopment addresses two interconnected areas: the reconstruction and improvement of the existing port facilities and the complete reorganization of the land zone.

The latter contains 4,800m² of enclosed spaces accommodating tourism, retail, dining and marina-management functions. The outdoor areas, pedestrian routes and shared spaces were treated as an equally important part of the architectural programme.

To prevent parking from occupying a substantial part of the available open ground, a 156-space underground facility was placed beneath the central plaza. Its position within a steeply inclined section of the site reduces the visual presence of vehicles and preserves the relationship between the buildings, landscape and waterfront.

The new programme is distributed among a sequence of buildings and open plazas. Together, they establish a continuous public route along the central quay and connect the commercial areas with the marina’s operational facilities.

Buildings informed by the language of yachts

For AETER Architects, the form and materiality of the vessels using the marina provided a point of departure for the architectural language.

The façades are characterized by curved, folded and inclined surfaces formed in smooth white exposed concrete. Their changing geometry evokes movement and gives the buildings a different appearance as visitors move along the quays and public routes.

The materials associated with contemporary yachts also informed the treatment of the architectural surfaces. White concrete, extensive glazing, reflective finishes and darker metallic elements create contrasts between solidity, transparency and sheen.

Two central buildings containing retail and dining uses define the principal public space along the waterfront. Their broad overhangs and terraces extend the interior programme outdoors, while preserving uninterrupted views towards the marina.

To the northwest, the two-storey administration building and marina control tower form a more sculptural composition. A broad, almost ceremonial ascent leads to the accessible upper roof, which becomes an elevated viewpoint over the harbour and the Saronic Gulf.

Smaller buildings accommodating supporting functions complete the complex through a more restrained interpretation of the same architectural vocabulary.

 

 

From historical maps to a new public realm

The landscape design by Neiheiser Argyros begins with the proposition that “the map is the territory.” Historical topographic records and old nautical charts were used to retrieve earlier contour lines associated with the site.

These traces informed the main routes, paving patterns and planted zones. Landscape is therefore not applied as a decorative layer around the buildings. Instead, it becomes a continuous system that organizes movement, orientation and the transition between the hillside and the water.

Clusters of planted “islands” form buffers between vehicle circulation, parking areas and the waterfront. They also extend the vegetation of the adjoining slope towards the lower quays.

The paving incorporates irregular marble fragments sourced from nearby quarries. Their variations in scale, geometry and tone emphasize an ad hoc and handcrafted quality associated with the material character of the coastal pine forest.

The placement of the buildings defines a sequence of open plazas coordinated with the planting and the sea. Within the retail and dining zone, the two principal buildings frame the most significant shared space along the waterfront.

Bioclimatic strategies and planted roofs

The buildings employ a series of environmental strategies intended to reduce energy demand. Glazed surfaces support passive solar gain during winter, while deep overhangs, canopies and louvers protect the interiors from direct summer sunlight.

Extensive planted roofs continue the landscape across the upper surfaces of the buildings. They connect the architecture visually with the vegetation of the peninsula and soften the distinction between built and planted areas.

The artificial-lighting strategy responds to the coexistence of several different programmes. It reinforces the identity and hierarchy of the individual buildings while establishing continuity among plazas, covered passages and waterfront routes after dark.

 

 

A landscape of modernization

The redevelopment of Astir Marina continues a longer Greek history in which architecture mediates between tourism infrastructure and landscapes of particular natural, historical and cultural value.

Here, the role of design extends beyond the production of individual buildings. The preliminary planning by KSE Studio, the final master plan and architecture by AETER Architects, and the public realm by Neiheiser Argyros operate as distinct but interconnected layers.

The project remains suspended between two conditions: the local landscape that was already present and the international programme introduced by the marina. Its broader architectural significance lies in the way these forces are negotiated.

The balance between landscape protection and tourism development is not self-evident. Nevertheless, it continues to define a critical field for the evolution of contemporary Greek architecture.

 

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

Set within a public park in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, Bkd Bakery by UMKY design is conceived as an extension of the surrounding urban landscape. The 305 m² building opens towards the park through large sliding elements, allowing the boundary between the interior, shaded terraces and public space to shift throughout the day.

The design responds simultaneously to the demanding regional climate and the operational requirements of a working bakery. Deep pergolas protect three sides of the building, while the interior combines public circulation, seating and production within a continuous spatial sequence.

 

 

Extending the park into the interior

The design began with an analysis of pedestrian movement through the park. The main entrance aligns with its central axis, establishing a direct continuation of the principal public route into the bakery.

Rather than enclosing the commercial space behind a fixed façade, large sliding mechanisms allow it to open towards the surrounding landscape. The transition from park to terrace and interior becomes gradual, allowing the bakery to participate in the everyday activity of the public space.

Deep pergolas extend along three sides of the building. They shade the outdoor seating areas and limit direct solar exposure, creating a protected perimeter around the bakery and reducing heat gain within the interior.

This shaded edge is central to the project. It allows indoor and outdoor hospitality spaces to operate as parts of the same environment while responding to Ajman’s intense climate.

A layout shaped by movement

The organization of the interior follows the pedestrian flows approaching the building. Public functions remain clear and immediately accessible, while staff circulation, storage and other back-of-house operations are positioned away from the principal guest areas.

At the center of the plan, a large service counter becomes the main visual and spatial point of reference. It is built from custom-cast concrete bricks with mint-green pigment added during production, establishing a material relationship with the vegetation of the surrounding park.

The masonry gives the counter a tactile presence and anchors the open interior. Its weight contrasts with the transparency of the perimeter and the ability of the façades to open almost completely towards the exterior.

 

 

A domestic scale beneath the pitched ceiling

Above the public areas, the ceiling follows the profile of a pitched roof. The familiar geometry reduces the perceived height of the interior and introduces a more intimate scale within the large commercial space.

The form also performs a technical role, concealing the extensive climate-control equipment required by the bakery. Rather than allowing these systems to dominate the interior, the ceiling integrates them within an architectural element associated with shelter and domesticity.

This combination of technical performance and familiar form supports the broader character of the project: an open public venue that nevertheless maintains a sense of warmth and enclosure.

Baking as part of the public experience

At the core of the bakery, the production area is enclosed by glass and remains visible from the guest spaces. Visitors can observe the preparation and baking process, making production part of the everyday experience of the interior.

Integrating a working bakery into a busy public space required careful coordination of ventilation. The production zone remains visually connected to the seating areas while operating with the air-control systems necessary to maintain comfortable conditions throughout the building.

Transparency therefore operates at several scales. The bakery opens towards the park, the public areas remain visually connected across the interior, and the process of production is placed on display.

Inspired by ideas of movement and lightness associated with the Gemini constellation, the project avoids the character of a sealed commercial object. Through its sliding boundaries, shaded perimeter and visible production spaces, Bkd Bakery becomes a place of exchange between the park, the interior and the everyday activity of baking.

In the mountains of Emeishan, China, Zoland·Emei Resort by Studio J. Bridgland transforms a collection of deteriorated structures into a 2,900 m² retreat organized around the landscape. Buildings are arranged as a staggered group of smaller volumes, recalling a settlement embedded in the hillside rather than a single hotel complex.

The design draws on the terrain and local building traditions through pitched roofs, deep eaves and a restrained material palette. These elements are reinterpreted through contemporary construction, establishing a gradual relationship between existing structures, new interventions and the surrounding forest.

 

 

A village-like composition in the landscape

The buildings follow the natural changes in level across the site. Their fragmented arrangement creates a sequence of courtyards, paths and framed views, allowing the complex to be experienced gradually.

At the entrance, a façade of textured concrete worked by hand establishes a strong material presence. Its rough surface contrasts with the surrounding vegetation and introduces the tactile character that continues throughout the project.

Rather than seeking visual prominence, the architecture uses differences in scale, level and material to become part of the hillside. Traditional pitched roofs and deep overhangs provide protection while connecting the new intervention with familiar regional forms.

A courtyard organized around an ancient tree

The central courtyard forms the social heart of the resort. At its centre, an ancient Zhennan tree is surrounded by a reflecting pool, turning the existing vegetation into the main point of reference.

The courtyard opens towards the surrounding mountains and brings together architecture, water and planting. The tree gives the space a sense of continuity with the site’s earlier history, while the pool extends its presence through reflection.

Nearby, a contemplative space is enclosed by full-height glazing. The transparent envelope maintains an uninterrupted relationship with the forest, allowing changing light and vegetation to define the atmosphere of the interior.

 

 

Local materials and shared spaces

The dining hall brings together local materials and a clearly expressed structure. Traditional grey tiles from Leshan cover the roof, while a cedar framework spans the interior, introducing warmth and rhythm overhead.

Walls built from schist sourced from Emei Mountain connect the building with the geology of its setting. The combination of stone, timber and tile avoids a uniform material treatment, allowing the different surfaces to retain their texture and individual character.

Throughout the shared spaces, the architecture relies on a limited palette and direct construction. Material differences establish atmosphere without competing with the surrounding landscape.

Guest suites beneath a planted landscape

At the highest point of the site, the guest suites are incorporated beneath a raised planted surface. From the outside, the building remains largely concealed by the landscape, while full-height windows open the rooms towards the mountains.

The design creates a clear contrast between the building’s subdued external presence and the expansive views from within. The guest rooms become protected spaces from which the landscape is observed rather than architectural objects imposed on it.

Bathrooms use deep red local stone, introducing a stronger colour and a tactile connection with the region’s geological character. The bathing experience continues outdoors, where a stone pool finished with green granite extends into the mountain setting.

The relationship between built form and landscape becomes progressively less distinct across the project. Courtyards are organized around existing vegetation, roofs become planted ground and outdoor bathing areas merge with the terrain.

Through this landscape-led approach, Zoland·Emei Resort proposes an architecture of reduced pace and heightened attention. The regeneration of the existing site is shaped through modest interventions, local materials and a sequence of spaces that invite visitors to experience the mountain environment gradually.

Casa Gruta is a 254m² residence in the Sisal neighbourhood of Valladolid, Mexico. Designed by Salvador Román and Adela Mortera, it approaches the house as an inhabitable sculpture. Its spatial language draws on the caves, grottos and cenotes that characterize the geology of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Rather than reproducing these formations literally, the architecture translates their atmosphere into a sequence of passages, chambers and openings. Spaces alternately contract and expand, creating different perceptions of scale as occupants move through the house.

 

 

Entering the grotto

The entrance is marked by an existing álamo tree. In local tradition, this species has been associated with the presence of underground formations. Its preservation therefore establishes both a physical and symbolic point of departure for the project.

From the tree, visitors enter an open-air vestibule before moving into the residence. According to the architects, this sequence recalls the ritualized approach to cenotes in ancient Maya culture. The entrance is treated as a gradual transition rather than a conventional doorway.

Beyond it, enclosed passages lead towards brighter rooms and open courtyards. The changing proportions establish a rhythm of compression and release. Meanwhile, controlled openings allow sunlight to enter in narrow beams or illuminate entire surfaces.

A sequence of chambers and clearings

The internal organization is inspired by underground caverns, where tunnels connect larger chambers and unexpected clearings. Casa Gruta applies this principle to domestic life. Each area has a distinct spatial character, yet remains part of a continuous route.

The residence does not reveal itself from a single viewpoint. Instead, walls, thresholds and changes in light frame partial views of the adjoining spaces. Courtyards interrupt the enclosed composition and bring vegetation, air and daylight into its centre.

This alternation between sheltered interiors and open-air voids creates a balance between introspection and contact with the exterior. The courtyards act as extensions of the rooms, while the solid architectural surfaces preserve a sense of enclosure.

 

 

Material, light and time

The restrained material palette derives from the colours and textures of the Yucatán landscape. Its earthy surfaces reinforce the impression that the house has been carved from a single mass rather than assembled from separate elements.

Light becomes an active material within this setting. It moves across the walls throughout the day, revealing their texture and altering the perceived depth of the rooms. Shadows emphasize corners, passages and curved transitions, giving the architecture a changing character over time.

The design also considers the gradual ageing of its surfaces. Instead of pursuing a pristine and unchanging finish, the residence allows weather, vegetation and everyday use to become visible. This approach strengthens the project’s relationship with the passage of time.

Casa Gruta ultimately uses the image of the grotto to question the conventional openness of the tropical residence. Its protected interiors, carefully positioned courtyards and shifting spatial proportions form a retreat that remains connected with the climate and vegetation of Valladolid.

 

The Baie-de-Valois Nautical Centre is a public pavilion on the shore of Lake Saint-Louis in Pointe-Claire, Quebec. Designed by ADHOC Architectes and PRISME architecture, the project replaces a deteriorating park chalet in Grande-Anse Park and supports the area’s water-sports and community activities.

Τhe development includes a 665m² pavilion and a separate 112m² boat-storage area. The building introduces a community hall for up to 100 people, as well as changing rooms, offices and storage facilities for boaters, canoeists, kayakers, day-camp groups and visitors renting equipment.

 

 

Architecture shaped by the shoreline

The design translates the geological stratification of the lakeside setting into a series of architectural layers. Its solid base refers to the rocky shoreline, while the vertical rhythm of the timber cladding recalls the trunks of the surrounding trees.

Above, the angular roof extends across the composition like a tree canopy. Its changing planes continue into the interior, where they define the community hall and direct attention towards Lake Saint-Louis.

Rather than treating the landscape as a background, the building frames it through broad openings and covered outdoor areas. The principal patio faces the water, while a second, more sheltered terrace allows visitors to experience the site during different seasons.

Beneath this raised outdoor space, the architects incorporated boat storage. This arrangement preserves the view towards the lake while using the changing ground levels to accommodate a substantial operational requirement.

A pavilion for different users

The ground and basement levels support a varied public programme. The community hall can host local events and summer activities, while the lower level contains offices, changing areas and equipment storage.

The building, both patios, the parking area and the route towards the docks are universally accessible. As a result, the project extends access to the shoreline beyond experienced boaters and creates facilities that can be used by people of different ages and levels of mobility.

The circulation also establishes a direct sequence from the park to the building and onward to the water. Interior and exterior spaces therefore operate as parts of a continuous public landscape rather than as separate zones.

 

 

Roof as environmental infrastructure

The distinctive roof is also central to the building’s environmental performance. Its deep southwest overhang blocks direct summer sunlight and limits overheating. During winter, when the sun is lower, solar radiation can enter the interior and contribute to passive heat gain.

A large skylight introduces diffused daylight into the community hall and supports natural ventilation. A white roofing membrane reflects solar radiation, further reducing heat absorption during the warmer months.

Part of the rainwater collected from the roof is redirected towards planted filtration areas within the landscape. This strategy retains water on the site and connects the building’s drainage system with the outdoor design.

Reclaimed ash and natural light

Ash wood recovered from trees removed as part of measures against an invasive beetle was reused for the interior finishes and exterior soffits. The material introduces warmth beneath the angular roof and creates continuity between the enclosed rooms and sheltered terraces.

Inside, the timber ceiling and extensive glazing balance the more solid base of the building. Changing daylight reveals the folded roof geometry, while uninterrupted views of the lake give the relatively compact pavilion a broader spatial character.

Through this combination of public access, climatic response and landscape integration, the Baie-de-Valois Nautical Centre operates as both community infrastructure and a new point of contact with Montreal Island’s shoreline.

A Cut in the Landscape

The architectural proposal for a winery in Aidipsos, Evia, begins with the question of how a building of substantial scale can become part of the landscape. Given the area required for the production facilities, the winery is embedded into the hillside, absorbed by the terrain and incorporated into the vineyard, acquiring an intentionally chthonic character.

The underground solution serves more than a compositional purpose. The stable temperatures and controlled humidity of the subsoil create conditions suited to the maturation and aging of wine, allowing the building’s relationship with the earth to become part of the production process itself.

 

 

One line and one circle

At ground level, the architectural intervention is reduced to two traces: a line and a circle.

The linear production building is concealed behind the sloping wall of its only visible elevation. The circle, by contrast, forms a central open-air plaza overlooking the vineyard. Conceived as a crater, it interrupts the repetitive parallel lines of cultivation and becomes the principal point of reference within the composition.

While the building follows the rhythmic furrows of the cultivated terrain, the circle acts as a precise geometric incision. Its archetypal form introduces a deliberate interruption into the continuity of the vineyard, establishing a dialogue between architecture and landscape.

Descending into the winemaking process

The visitor’s journey begins among the rows of vines. Guided by the geometric alignment of the plants, a subtle cut in the landscape gradually reveals the presence of the building as an underground refuge.

The elongated entrance becomes an interior route that follows the course of wine production. Beyond the reception area, a large circular staircase descends to the winery’s main level, where the visitor moves between the barrels of the shadowy aging hall, the production areas, the transparent fermentation room with its tall stainless-steel tanks, and the bottling and storage spaces.

The coolness of the earth, the humidity, the silence and the scent of must intensify the experience of the descent. Architecture and production are encountered simultaneously, allowing the route through the building to become a progressive introduction to the making of wine.

 

 

From darkness back to light

The journey continues into an almost mystical tasting room. A vaulted ceiling slab, inclined walls and indirect natural light create a cave-like retreat, isolated from the surrounding sounds. Gravel underfoot becomes the only interruption, echoing with every step.

The sequence reaches its climax at the opening of the circular crater. Here, the visitor encounters daylight again and the view returns to the vineyard—the origin of the wine and the landscape from which the building itself emerges.

The circular plaza becomes a place of pause and contemplation, completing a journey of descent into the earth and re-emergence into the light. In this way, the architectural experience mirrors the transformative process of winemaking itself.

 

Originally published in ek magazine 299 | July–August 2025.

In Chios, the proposal Fluid Fields of Knowledge by Local Local reimagines the neoclassical building of the Karradeios School as part of an expanded public and academic environment for the University of the Aegean. The project combines restoration and new construction, treating the historic building not as a static monument, but as an active participant in the everyday life of the campus.

The design is based on the idea of a continuous field of knowledge, memory and collectivity. The metaphor of “communicating vessels” becomes a spatial strategy: old and new, interior and garden, formal teaching and informal exchange are connected through movement, visibility and shared use.

 

 

Old and new as one system

The proposal treats the neoclassical building as an example of the Chian urban residence, with influences from Smyrna. Its restoration follows the principles of integrated conservation, preserving its historical identity while giving it a renewed public role within the university.

The new extension is conceived as a continuation of this framework. It does not imitate the historic building literally. Instead, it reinterprets its geometry, proportions and spatial relationships in a more abstract way.

A key reference is the nine-square system of the old building’s plan. This becomes a compositional tool for the extension, where the geometry is expanded and rotated to generate new relationships. Verandas and semi-outdoor spaces also return in a contemporary form, creating continuity without direct repetition.

A connected academic environment

The two buildings are linked physically and functionally. An internal ramp, protected by a continuous glass screen, connects them, while a covered bridge joins the buildings at first-floor level.

This creates a clear operational continuity. The student dining hall in the new building can extend towards the community space on the ground floor of the neoclassical building. Meanwhile, offices on the upper levels are connected through the existing terrace and its extension.

Below ground, the two buildings form a unified core of services and auxiliary spaces. As a result, the complex operates as one system rather than as two separate buildings placed side by side.

 

 

Material memory

The material strategy also supports the dialogue between old and new. The neoclassical building is restored with respect for its existing elements, including wooden panelling, murals and the fireplace.

In the extension, the main façade is clad in locally produced ceramic tiles. This choice refers to the tradition of structural ceramics in Chios without copying historical forms.

The floor of the new building is proposed as a mosaic made with aggregates and ceramic fragments from demolished elements on the site and from the old building. In this way, material from the past is incorporated into the new construction, giving physical form to the idea of memory as something that continues to circulate.

The garden as connective tissue

The outdoor space plays a central role in the proposal. It is designed as the connective tissue of the complex, linking all buildings through paths and universally accessible ramps.

The garden also shaped the massing of the new extension. By developing vertically, the proposal limits its footprint and preserves as much greenery as possible.

Existing water elements—the well, the historic cistern and the stream—are reactivated as a triple water trace. Together, they improve the microclimate and bring the memory of the site back into daily use.

Planting is organized with bioclimatic goals, providing shade, supporting natural ventilation and using evapotranspiration to improve comfort. Existing trees, including the araucaria that offers natural shade, become active elements of the design.

 

A porous field of learning

Large openings, especially on the south façade of the new building, maintain visual continuity between the extension, the restored building and the garden. The amphitheatre on the top floor opens views towards the neoclassical building, the Michaleio building and the wider campus.

Learning is therefore not limited to enclosed classrooms or offices. It extends into corridors, passages, terraces and outdoor areas, encouraging chance encounters and informal exchange.

Fluid Fields of Knowledge proposes architecture as a framework for continuity and renewal. Through restoration, extension, garden design and material reuse, the project turns the Karradeios School into a porous civic and academic environment where the memory of the place becomes part of contemporary university life.

Fallen Tower by Kipseli Architects is a vacation home in Messinian Mani. Its design reinterprets the region’s fortified stone towers, which traditionally developed vertically as structures of defence and isolation.

Instead of reproducing this familiar form, the project turns it on its side. The tower becomes an elongated horizontal volume that organizes everyday life and strengthens the residence’s relationship with the landscape.

 

 

A tower laid across the site

The principal volume contains the living room, kitchen and dining area in a continuous linear sequence. The entrance is positioned at one end of this shared space. From there, movement through the house culminates in a semi-outdoor area that frames the sea.

This extended route gives the building a clear internal direction. At the same time, it transforms the traditional tower from an enclosed vertical structure into an open framework for collective life.

The horizontal form retains a sense of monumentality. However, its meaning changes. Rather than asserting separation from the landscape, the volume stretches across the site and establishes a direct connection between the interior, the courtyard and the distant horizon.

 

 

Private spaces as separate fragments

Bedrooms, bathrooms and storage areas project from the principal spine as smaller spatial fragments. Their divergent arrangement loosens the strict geometry of the main volume and creates a more varied relationship with the terrain.

The gaps between these private wings shape a protected outdoor core. This west-facing internal courtyard acts as a shared open-air room, enclosed by the residence but visually connected with the wider landscape.

The ground- and first-floor plans published with the original presentation clarify this organization. The long communal spine defines one side of the composition, while the smaller volumes unfold around the courtyard and respond independently to the site.

 

 

Continuity between inside and outside

The photographic sequence reveals a composition of stone surfaces, lighter rendered volumes and dark metal pergolas. The main stone element gives the residence a substantial presence, while the projecting wings and sheltered outdoor spaces divide its overall mass.

Large openings connect the living areas with the terraces, pool and sea view. Inside, the linear kitchen reinforces the direction of the main volume. Meanwhile, the living room opens simultaneously towards the water and the semi-outdoor space at its far end.

The bedrooms maintain a more contained character. Nevertheless, carefully placed openings preserve their relationship with the landscape and allow natural light to enter the private areas.

Through this shift from verticality to horizontality, the regional tower is redefined as a structure of connection. It no longer separates its occupants from their surroundings. Instead, it brings together shared and private spaces around an open sequence of movement, landscape and outdoor life.

 

The project was first published in print in Maison de Campagne 2025, an annual edition by ek Architectural Publications.

Located on a rocky hillside in Corfu, the summer residence was designed by Tony Wynbourne, Georgios Apostolopoulos and Makis Gisdakis. Organized along an east–west axis, the house opens towards uninterrupted 180-degree views of the sea and the surrounding landscape.

The architectural composition follows the terrain and incorporates existing natural elements into the experience of the house. A preserved olive tree occupies a central position, while exposed rock remains visible within the lower level. Local stone and large glazed openings establish a balance between solidity and openness.

 

 

Following the natural terrain

The residence is distributed across a ground floor, lower ground floor and mezzanine. This arrangement allows the building to respond to the changing levels of the hillside while maintaining a close relationship with the exterior.

On the ground floor, the plan is divided into two main zones. The principal bedroom occupies the western side, while the kitchen, living room and dining area are placed to the east. Large openings connect these spaces with the terraces and frame the view towards the sea.

The lower ground floor contains four additional bedrooms with private bathrooms and a small kitchenette. At the rear, the natural rock is incorporated into a quiet, cave-like retreat. Rather than concealing the terrain, the design brings its rough material character directly into the interior.

The repeated orientation towards the view creates a common spatial direction throughout the house. At the same time, the distribution across three levels allows the different sleeping and living areas to retain a degree of independence.

Two pools at different levels

Two swimming pools are integrated into separate parts of the hillside. On the upper level, a heated pool extends directly from the principal bedroom. Set beside the natural rock, it forms a more private water surface within the landscape.

The main pool occupies a lower terrace. Its long, calm surface aligns visually with the distant horizon, strengthening the connection between the residence and the sea.

The different position and scale of the two pools give each one a distinct role. The upper pool belongs to the more private part of the house, while the lower pool forms part of the shared outdoor spaces.

 

 

Local stone and restrained interiors

The exterior is clad in locally sourced stone, shaped by hand by local craftspeople. Its irregular surface connects the architecture with the rocky hillside and recalls the material character of Corfu’s traditional buildings.

Large windows and carefully resolved details introduce a contemporary contrast to the weight and texture of the stone. The relationship between solid walls and glazed openings also allows the landscape to remain visible throughout the interior.

Inside, the design is deliberately understated. Neutral materials, minimal lines and discreet joinery create a quiet setting for the views. The interiors do not compete with the surrounding landscape. Instead, they direct attention towards the sea, the natural rock and the changing daylight.

 

The project was first published in print in ek magazine 298 | June 2025, the monthly issue by ek Architectural Publications.

A low-rise composition of fragmented volumes and atriums is arranged around mature olive trees on Corfu’s western coast.

Casa Ruina is a 477m² residence in Kortiraki, on the western coast of Corfu. Designed by Thetacon, it develops as a low, fragmented composition among mature olive trees. The existing vegetation, the sloping terrain and the presence of a ruin informed a design that combines contemporary spatial organization with references to Corfiot building traditions.

 

 

Architecture among the olive trees

The height of the residence is deliberately restrained, allowing the vertical presence of the olive trees to remain dominant. Instead of forming a single compact volume, the building is divided according to use. This strategy preserves the largest trees and introduces a series of open spaces between the enclosed rooms.

The main residence occupies a single level despite the changing topography. Its entrance is approached through a landscaped atrium, which acts as the first threshold between the olive grove and the interior. The kitchen is placed on one side and the living and dining areas on the other. Meanwhile, the principal bedrooms are arranged at the far end.

Atriums as spatial structure

Atriums connect the separate volumes and establish a gradual transition from shared to private areas. They also create visual links across the residence, extending sightlines from one room to another and towards the surrounding landscape. As a result, the fragmented plan retains a sense of continuity and openness.

The steeper part of the site accommodates a subterranean guesthouse. Internal vertical circulation leads to the additional bedrooms and utility spaces below. This arrangement uses the natural slope without increasing the apparent height of the main composition.

At a lower level, a linear swimming pool follows the direction of the terrain. Its elongated form reinforces the continuity between the architecture, the descending landscape and the distant sea.

 

 

Materials with local references

The material palette supports the project’s integration into its setting. Light-toned stone provides the dominant earthy surface, while timber pergolas with wicker elements filter the sunlight. Corfiot brick adds a further local reference.

Together, these materials create a restrained balance between contemporary construction and the island’s architectural identity.

On a steep, rocky 4,070 m² plot overlooking Kalathas beach in Crete, the vacation house by iN2 Architects is conceived as a partially embedded residence closely integrated into the terrain. Designed for ten people, the house combines generous shared spaces with clearly separated areas of privacy.

The building occupies one of two natural plateaus on the slope, where the incline is gentler. Its long, single-level plan follows both the geometry of the site and the view towards the sea. Meanwhile, the existing vegetation was preserved wherever possible, including a prominent tamarisk tree at the entrance.

Rather than reshaping the landscape around the house, the design uses the existing features of the site to organize access, movement and orientation.

 

 

Entering through the rock

The approach begins at an existing cut in the mountain. From there, a narrow opening leads into a long, uncovered passage designed as a light well.

This route delays the first full encounter with the sea. At its end, the entrance hall divides the residence into two principal zones: communal living spaces to the east and bedrooms to the west.

From this central point, the view suddenly opens towards the islet of Kalathas. Folding glazing further dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior, turning arrival into a gradual transition from rock and enclosure towards light and horizon.

A linear plan facing the sea

The eastern side contains the living room, dining area and kitchen within one continuous space. A 14 m sliding glass façade opens the entire communal zone towards the terrace and the panoramic view.

As a result, the living area becomes the social heart of the residence. Its open plan supports shared life, while the uninterrupted relationship with the exterior gives the sea a constant presence.

The western wing contains five bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. Their arrangement follows a rhythmic sequence of solid and open elements. Vertical screens provide privacy while allowing daylight to enter and framing controlled views towards the landscape.

The single-level organization also provides clear circulation and full accessibility. Underground spaces accommodate the necessary auxiliary functions, keeping the principal floor focused on daily life and the relationship with the sea.

 

 

Concrete as structure and background

Exposed concrete is the main material and expressive element of the house. Its natural colour is close to that of the rocky terrain, reducing the visual contrast between building and mountain.

Inside, the same material creates a neutral backdrop for the artworks of Netherlands-based artist Daniella Rubinovitz. The house therefore operates simultaneously as a domestic setting and as a restrained environment for displaying art.

Polished cement flooring continues the muted material language. Timber and metal elements add warmth and contrast, while the direct expression of the construction maintains the overall clarity of the interior.

Material continuity also strengthens the relationship between the building and the site. Rock fragments removed during excavation were returned to the surrounding landscape, reducing the distinction between the constructed and existing ground.

 

 

Light, shade and the open horizon

Large openings bring diffuse daylight deep into the residence. At the same time, a pergola covered with wicker filters the intense sun and extends the living areas outdoors.

The architecture is therefore shaped by a series of contrasts: the narrow entrance and the open horizon, the heavy concrete structure and the filtered light, the communal living area and the more protected bedrooms.

These relationships allow the house to remain visually restrained despite its size. The planted roof, linear form and earthy material palette reduce its presence on the slope, while the main façade opens almost completely towards the sea.

The house is conceived as a quiet architectural framework for the landscape and the art it contains. Through its embedded form, carefully staged entrance and long open façade, the residence brings the changing light, rocky terrain and horizon into everyday life.

 

The project was first published in print in Maison de Campagne 2025, an annual edition by ek Architectural Publications.

Keras Cliff House by Tzagkarakis + Associates is located outside Agia Galini in Rethymno, southern Crete. The residence occupies a natural plateau between a steep cliff and the surrounding mountains, with uninterrupted views across the southern Cretan Sea towards the uninhabited Paximadia islets.

Its composition draws on the “horns of consecration,” a recurring symbol of Minoan Crete. Rather than reproducing the motif as ornament, the architects use its geometry as a formal tool. Two curved wings follow the morphology of the site and open the house towards the sea.

 

 

A protected entrance and a sudden view

The entrance is positioned on the northern side of the residence. A floating concrete slab extends above a low wall, forming a sheltered threshold and introducing the project’s underlying geometric reference.

A continuous wall of local stone defines the northern boundary. Narrow vertical openings interrupt its otherwise solid surface, providing privacy while allowing controlled glimpses of the landscape.

This enclosed approach delays the principal view. Once inside, the stone wall gives way to a large opening towards the sea and Paximadia. The transition from the protected entrance to the open southern elevation establishes a gradual sequence of concealment and revelation.

Two curved residential wings

The house is divided into two main volumes. The western wing contains the interior living areas, which connect directly with the covered terraces and outdoor spaces. Wide openings allow the kitchen, dining room and sitting areas to operate as part of a continuous zone facing the sea.

The eastern wing accommodates four en-suite bedrooms arranged along an elongated corridor. At its far end, a small lounge frames a focused view of the Paximadia islets and provides a quieter destination away from the shared spaces.

Where the two wings meet, a central skylight introduces daylight from above. The space beneath it recalls the internal courtyard of traditional Cretan houses and acts as an orientation point from which the different parts of the residence become visible.

The ground-floor plan and cross-section published with the project clarify how the curved geometry follows the contours of the plateau. They also show the close relationship between the interior rooms, covered outdoor areas and changing levels of the landscape.

 

 

Stone, concrete and timber

The material palette responds to the raw character of southern Crete. Load-bearing walls of local stone form substantial boundaries, while exposed reinforced concrete extends across both enclosed and outdoor areas.

Concrete slabs continue beyond the glazed façades to create deep overhangs, pergolas and planted recesses. These elements provide shade and reinforce the visual continuity between the interior and the terraces.

Timber introduces a warmer and more precisely crafted layer. Custom sliding shutters protect the bedrooms and filter sunlight through their horizontal openings. The repeated use of stone, concrete and wood across interior and exterior surfaces gives the house a consistent material identity.

Nearly all construction work was undertaken by local craftspeople and crews. Their contribution is particularly visible in the stonework, the board-marked concrete and the purpose-made timber elements.

 

The project was first published in print in Maison de Campagne 2025, an annual edition by ek Architectural Publications.

At Somanou, in Koufonissia, two single-level vacation homes by GFRA Architecture unfold across a landscape with uninterrupted views of the Aegean and a nearby traditional Cycladic settlement. The principal design strategy was to organize the programme in close contact with the landscape without altering the natural topography of the site. Instead of concentrating the functions within large continuous forms, the complex is broken down into smaller volumes. Protected courtyards and semi-outdoor spaces emerge between them, bringing the scale and intimacy of a Cycladic neighbourhood into a contemporary residential setting.

 

 

A small settlement within the landscape

Access is provided from the eastern side of the property, where a shared parking area serves both residences. From there, two separate paths lead to the houses, reinforcing their functional independence from the outset.

Each residence is entered through a low, discreet volume that acts as a distribution corridor between the principal and auxiliary spaces. The open-plan living, dining and kitchen area occupies the main façade and projects slightly beyond the other volumes, establishing its central role within the composition.

The primary bedrooms are also positioned towards the front, taking advantage of the views across the Aegean. Between the principal volumes, a private courtyard is created for each residence, forming a protected centre of calm and privacy.

Additional bedrooms are placed towards the rear, where their more secluded position is reinforced by independent access to small sheltered courtyards. The spatial organization therefore alternates between open views and protected outdoor rooms rather than treating the landscape as a single uninterrupted panorama.

Courtyards between the volumes

The fragmentation of the complex allows the spaces between the buildings to become as important as the interiors themselves. Courtyards, pathways and shaded thresholds regulate movement through the project, while the transition between shared and private areas takes place gradually.

The arrangement draws on the spatial logic of Cycladic settlements without directly reproducing their forms. The experience is based on a sequence of separate volumes, narrow passages and protected places where the architecture offers shelter from the sun and wind.

 

 

Shared and private outdoor life

The principal outdoor areas are positioned along the front of the residences, facing the sea. Each house is provided with a pool, a hydrotherapy area and generous outdoor sitting spaces.

At the same time, a shared area with an outdoor dining table and bbq creates a place for gathering between the otherwise independent residences. The project balances these communal uses with a series of more secluded courtyards and sitting areas associated with individual rooms.

Outdoor life is therefore organized through different degrees of privacy. Open areas directed towards the Aegean coexist with enclosed courtyards, shaded patios and protected spaces between the volumes.

Materials rooted in the Cyclades

The landscape design follows the same principle of restrained integration. Mediterranean species are introduced through limited interventions that enrich the existing vegetation, while local rocks are retained as active elements of the composition.

The façades are finished in light earthy tones drawn from the natural palette of the Cyclades. Wood, stone, marble and cane establish a tactile material language that links the new architecture with the island landscape.

Rather than relying on the conventional white image of Cycladic architecture, the project uses colour, texture and natural materials to establish a quieter relationship with the terrain. Stone walls and planted areas extend the buildings into the site, while cane pergolas filter the strong sunlight and create changing patterns of shadow.

At Somanou, the two vacation homes and the converted structure form a small architectural ensemble in which buildings and outdoor spaces are closely interwoven. Through the fragmentation of the programme, the creation of protected courtyards and the restrained use of natural materials, the project interprets the scale of a Cycladic settlement while maintaining the independence of each residence.

 

Originally published in Maison de Campagne 2025, an annual edition by ek Architectural Publications.

Somanou by GFRA Architecture is featured on the cover.

At Minos Palace Resort in Crete, spatial flow, controlled sensory transitions and a close relationship with nature shape an environment dedicated to personalised wellbeing.

 

 

Νao Longevity Hub is located at Minos Palace Resort in Agios Nikolaos, Crete. Designed by Stones & Walls, the project explores how interior design can contribute to a broader approach to wellbeing and longevity.

Movement through space, contact with the natural landscape, lighting, materiality and atmosphere are treated as interconnected elements. The interior does not simply provide a setting for treatments and assessments. Instead, it becomes an active part of the visitor’s gradual transition towards a calmer rhythm.

Flow as a spatial principle

The name Nao derives from the ancient Greek verb nao, meaning “to flow,” and recalls the principle of panta rhei: everything flows. This concept informs the organization of the interior and the continuous passage from one functional zone to another.

The visitor’s experience begins before arrival through a personalised assessment, which establishes the basis of the programme that follows. Once inside Nao, the succession of spaces, the relationship with the landscape and the gradual reduction of sensory stimuli create a process of decompression.

The entire programme is not revealed from a single point. Instead, it unfolds through an ordered sequence of thresholds. Variations in light, enclosure, texture and atmosphere mark the transition from one activity to the next.

Circulation therefore becomes more than a functional link between rooms. It forms part of the overall wellness experience and prepares visitors for a different perception of time.

 

 

Nature and sensory restraint

The design responds to the understanding that the physical environment can affect both mental and bodily states. Natural light, tactile surfaces and visual contact with the exterior contribute to a measured and progressively quieter spatial experience.

Rather than separating the different functions through abrupt boundaries, Stones & Walls establish continuity through a shared material and atmospheric language. Spaces for assessment, movement, treatment and relaxation maintain distinct identities while remaining part of the same route.

The natural landscape serves as more than a framed view. Its colours, rhythms and sense of openness inform the restrained character of the interior. In this way, the project introduces contact with nature without relying on literal decorative representations.

Five interconnected pillars

The spatial design operates alongside a personalised methodology structured around five principal pillars: Nutrition, Sleep, Movement, Self-Mastery, and Connection & Purpose.

Diagnostic tools and individual programmes establish a personal route for each visitor. The interior supports this process through spaces with different degrees of activity, privacy and sensory intensity.

More active or technologically supported functions are balanced by quieter environments dedicated to rest and contemplation. The transitions among them are designed to feel gradual, preserving the principle of continuous flow.

Architecture and methodology therefore have complementary roles. Assessment defines the individual programme, while the physical environment gives this programme a clear sequence and atmosphere.

 

 

A changing understanding of luxury

Nao reflects a broader shift in contemporary hospitality and wellness design. Luxury is no longer expressed only through material refinement or visual abundance. It is increasingly associated with time, privacy, personalised attention and the quality of the surrounding environment.

Within this context, the project brings together interior design, science and nature as parts of a single experience. The objective is not simply to create a visually controlled setting, but to establish an environment that supports a more balanced everyday rhythm.

The architectural contribution lies in translating the abstract concept of flow into a spatial experience. Arrival, evaluation, movement, treatment and rest become successive stages of a continuous route.

 

The project was first presented in print in ek magazine 302 | November 2025, a monthly issue by ek Architectural Publications.

On the southwestern coast of Mykonos, En Kyanó by Dimitris Sakellariou and Mihalis Seitanidis is shaped by the deep blue of the Aegean and a continuous relationship between architecture and landscape. Its name refers to the saturated colour of the sea and sky, which forms an ever-changing backdrop to the residence.

The architectural composition seeks continuity between interior and exterior through a sequence of interconnected spaces. Rather than revealing itself at once, the house is experienced gradually, through transitions between different levels, shaded and open areas, planted surfaces and mineral ground.

A two-level composition

The residence is organized across two levels with distinct degrees of openness and privacy. The upper level contains the principal living, dining and cooking areas, both indoors and outdoors, together with two primary bedrooms.

The lower level accommodates four cave-like suites, a gym and the necessary service areas, connected by a separate circulation corridor. This arrangement integrates the more private functions into the terrain while allowing communal life to occupy the more open upper level.

The resulting sequence establishes continuous transitions between above and below, inside and outside, covered and open-air spaces. Planting and hard surfaces further articulate the movement through the property, allowing the composition to be discovered in stages.

 

 

The pergola as common ground

An expansive but visually lightweight pergola extends in front of the principal living spaces, connecting the two building volumes along the length of the infinity pool.

This intervention transforms the courtyard into the central space of daily life. Protected from the intense Mykonian sun, it accommodates eating, relaxation and social gatherings while maintaining an uninterrupted relationship with the horizon.

The pool reinforces the longitudinal organization of the residence and extends the architecture towards the Aegean. At the same time, smaller private courtyards attached to the bedrooms provide more secluded outdoor spaces.

The project therefore balances two parallel conditions: a central area designed for communal life and a series of protected places for retreat.

Contemporary living and Cycladic references

The design brings a contemporary spatial language into dialogue with the architectural character of the island. Instead of reproducing vernacular forms directly, it draws on their principles through simple volumes, protected outdoor areas and a restrained material palette.

The interior design collaboration between Lambs and Lions, StudioMacBride and Annabell Kutucu develops the same approach through spaces intended to support both gathering and privacy.

Local craftspeople contributed to a series of bespoke elements, allowing traditional knowledge and contemporary construction to coexist within the project. The result is a form of restrained modernity grounded in the tactile character of the place.

 

 

Natural materials and the beauty of imperfection

Natural materials reinforce the relationship between the residence and its setting. Lime plaster is placed alongside the local stone of the building volumes, while timber and sandblasted travertine introduce further variations in texture.

The palette avoids polished uniformity. Its surfaces are intended to register light, use and time, supporting an approach based on modesty, material simplicity and an appreciation of imperfection.

Through the relationship between its two levels, the large shaded pergola and the sequence of shared and private outdoor spaces, En Kyanó places everyday life in continuous contact with the landscape. The architecture becomes a framework for experiencing the changing light of Mykonos and the expanse of the Aegean.

 

Originally published in MykonosVillas Vol.5, a special edition by ek Architectural Publications.

A series of three-hinged timber frames spans the basketball court, combining structural expression, passive environmental strategies and the reuse of material from the existing gymnasium.

 

 

Kyathos is a proposed 4,000m² indoor basketball arena in Galatsi. Designed by KAAF | Kitriniaris Associates Architecture Firm, the project was directly commissioned by the Cultural and Athletic Organisation of the Municipality of Galatsi as a specialist public building requiring expertise in engineered-timber construction.

The programme includes the principal basketball court and spectator stands, together with an internal perimeter mezzanine. Changing rooms for athletes and referees, sanitary facilities, administrative offices, club offices and supporting spaces complete the complex.

The new arena will replace the existing timber gymnasium on the same site. The older structure has been designated for demolition, mainly because its materials cannot be certified according to current structural standards. However, a substantial part of its timber is intended for reuse as non-load-bearing components in the new building.

 

A concrete podium and timber superstructure

The arena rests on a reinforced-concrete podium containing the functions below the final level of the playing court. This solid base opens towards the adjoining pedestrian route and accommodates the programme that requires direct contact with the ground.

Above the court level, the building is formed primarily from engineered-timber components. The structural system combines glulam, plywood and cross-laminated timber, while steel is introduced selectively at connections and where additional stiffness is required.

The distinction between the concrete base and the timber superstructure gives the building a clear constructional order. It also allows the large-span enclosure to remain relatively lightweight above the more solid lower level.

Ten frames spanning 30 metres

The timber load-bearing structure is arranged around a rectangular grid measuring 45m by 30m, with a regular bay of 5m.

Ten identical statically determinate frames bridge the 30m span of the main arena. Each frame consists of columns and beams working together as a three-hinged arch.

The repeated structural units determine the principal rhythm of the building. Rather than being concealed behind an independent exterior image, the load-bearing system becomes the basis of the architectural composition.

Lightweight waterproof polymer components cover the roof. According to the project description, the material is recyclable, weather-resistant and suitable for printed surface treatments.

 

From the ancient kyathos to the building envelope

The project takes its name from the kyathos, an ancient Greek cup or ladle. Its curved profile provides a conceptual reference for the geometry of the structural shell.

A second reference comes from the cup-shaped inflorescence of Euphorbia, known in Greek as galatsida. The plant’s name establishes a further association with Galatsi, while its botanical form informs the repeated elements of the envelope.

These references are integrated into the structure rather than applied as decorative motifs. Form, construction and environmental performance are conceived as parts of the same architectural system.

 

A shaded and naturally ventilated perimeter

A principal objective of the envelope is to keep the building and its perimeter circulation areas largely under shade. The depth and repetition of the timber elements limit direct solar exposure while allowing daylight to enter the interior.

Open sections of the shell support natural ventilation and passive cooling. At the same time, the structural rhythm creates a gradual transition between Veikou Grove, the sheltered edge of the arena and the main internal volume.

Rainwater from the roof and the surrounding hard surfaces is intended for reuse in landscape irrigation. The landscape design also proposes the reinforcement of the existing Mediterranean vegetation of the grove.

These strategies are presented as design objectives and will need to be evaluated through the project’s detailed technical development.

 

Reusing material from the existing gymnasium

Timber recovered from the existing building will be reused in shutters, wall linings and purpose-made non-structural elements. This approach retains part of the material history of the site without relying on components that can no longer be certified for structural use.

The new load-bearing system is intended to use engineered timber from certified, sustainably managed forests. Approximately 2,000m³ of timber will be required for the proposed construction.

Concrete is concentrated below the court level, while timber spans the principal arena above. Through this combination, Kyathos proposes a public sports building in which structure, environmental response and architectural identity are developed together.

Set on an olive-covered slope overlooking the quiet bay of Ampelaki in Meganisi, Amphitheatro Boutique Hotel by ATENO Architecture Studio transforms two existing stone houses into a small contemporary hotel. The intervention retains the character of the original buildings while introducing new shared spaces, shaded areas and a completely redesigned landscape.

The two independent stone volumes had previously been connected by an irregular corridor. Their interiors were fully reorganized to accommodate six guest rooms alongside the necessary reception, kitchen and storage areas. Rather than erasing the existing structures, the design introduces a series of restrained additions that soften their geometric severity and establish a closer relationship with the surrounding landscape.

 

 

Connecting two existing volumes

A metal canopy in an earthy tone bridges the two stone buildings, creating a sheltered central area with an outdoor kitchen. The new element establishes a shared zone between the existing volumes while remaining visually distinct from the original masonry.

In front of it, the swimming pool becomes the focal point of the courtyard. Nearby, a curved built-in seat unfolds beneath a circular canopy, introducing softer geometries into the composition and counterbalancing the rigid lines of the stone buildings.

These additions establish a new architectural vocabulary between the two existing houses. Metal, plaster and timber are introduced alongside the local stonework, while their muted tones maintain the visual continuity of the ensemble.

Shared spaces and private courtyards

The outdoor areas were redesigned entirely and organized across three levels. At the centre, the main courtyard functions as the shared heart of the hotel, bringing together the pool, outdoor kitchen and shaded sitting areas.

Around it, smaller outdoor spaces serve the ground-floor rooms as private courtyards. The arrangement allows collective life and retreat to coexist within the same composition, offering guests places to gather as well as more secluded areas in direct contact with the landscape.

The relationship between these different levels of privacy is central to the project. The hotel is not organized around a single communal space, but through a gradual transition from shared areas to increasingly private settings.

 

 

A material palette rooted in the landscape

The selection of materials seeks to anchor the intervention within its setting. Earthy colours and subdued tones are applied to the metal surfaces, plaster and timber, complementing the existing stone walls.

The intervention avoids strong contrasts between old and new. Instead, differences in geometry, texture and construction distinguish the contemporary additions while allowing the two original buildings to remain the principal elements of the composition.

The architecture is conceived as a quiet background to the experience of the place. The changing light, views towards the sea and the movement of the surrounding trees remain the dominant features of the hotel.

Through a limited series of additions and landscape interventions, Amphitheatro Boutique Hotel gives new use to the existing structures without diminishing their relationship with the site. Shared courtyards, shaded thresholds and private outdoor rooms transform the two stone houses into a small hospitality complex shaped around the experience of the landscape.

 

Originally published in ek magazine 299 | July–August 2025.

 

1. Korean Football Park in Cheonan | UNS

 

In Cheonan, South Korea, Korean Football Park by UNS creates a new national home for the Korea Football Association. The 450,427 sq.m. campus brings together training, recovery, education, public engagement and institutional identity within a single landscape-led masterplan.

The project includes 11 football fields, an indoor climate-controlled arena, an outdoor stadium, gyms, physical therapy areas, healthcare facilities and athlete accommodation. Athletic performance is treated here as a wider ecosystem, where training, medical support, recovery and mental balance remain closely connected to landscape and public life.

 

2. Telekom Center Athens at OAKA

ek Issue: 293 | December 2024

 

At OAKA, the renovation of PAO BC Arena transforms the indoor basketball stadium into the new home venue of Panathinaikos BC, through an intervention that combines technical upgrading, functional organization and a renewed spectator experience. The project was developed by Decathlon, Markos Vouzounerakis / RICHE, K-Division and Eva Lantzouni / SEED Architects, covering more than 50,000 sq.m.

The first phase included waterproofing, assessment and reinforcement of the roof space frame, hydraulic and electrical upgrades, new circulation areas, food-and-beverage spaces, press facilities and hospitality zones. At the same time, the interactive glass sports floor, new screens, lighting and suites turn the arena into a contemporary sports and entertainment infrastructure, without erasing the identity of the existing shell.

 

 

 

3. Hidden Spa – Water Hope in Vietnam | IDEE Architects

 

In Cam Ranh, Vietnam, Hidden Spa – Water Hope by IDEE Architects is designed as a wellness space emerging from the landscape of coastal sand dunes. Rather than imposing itself on the natural setting, the architecture follows the terrain, creating a calm experience of therapy, water and shade.

At the heart of the composition, a central water courtyard works as both a spatial and environmental device. Reflecting water surfaces, planted islands and shaded walkways create gradual shifts in temperature, humidity and light. Water is therefore not treated as a decorative feature, but as infrastructure for cooling and sensory recovery.

 

 

4. Minthis Spa in Paphos | Woods Bagot

ek Issue: 281 | October 2023

 

In Paphos, Minthis Spa by Woods Bagot is part of a wider hospitality and wellness landscape, where the experience of care gains architectural scale. The project is not limited to a series of treatment rooms; it organizes a relationship between water, light, movement and the calmness of the surrounding landscape.

As a resort spa, it works as a place of distance and restoration, where atmosphere is as important as programme. Materiality, views and the connection with the environment shape a wellness experience based less on the image of luxury and more on duration, physical relaxation and a sense of retreat.

 

 

5. Hekate Fitness Club in Athens | Studio Maneo

 

In Metaxourgeio, Studio Maneo transforms a former warehouse into a 140 sq.m. exercise space with a calm, restrained atmosphere. Instead of the aggressive image of a conventional gym, the project is based on natural materials, diffused light and carefully controlled boundaries.

The architecture connects exercise with a sense of safety and decompression from the city. The gym therefore works not only as infrastructure for physical strength, but also as an everyday space for mental reset.

 

 

6. Sentō Urban Shop & Spa in Athens | PHOS Architects

ek Issue: 299 | July–August 2025

 

In Athens, Sentō Urban Shop & Spa by PHOS Architects combines beauty, care and wellness services with references to Japanese bathing culture. The project forms a sequence of reception, treatment and relaxation spaces, where materiality and light control degrees of visibility and privacy.

The spa experience is based on gentle transitions. Natural materials, fabric filters and carefully designed surfaces create an urban retreat, where care for the body is connected to silence, touch and a sense of distance from the rhythm of the city.

 

 

7. +One More Gym | BIVA Design

 

In Muscat, Oman, + One More Gym by BIVA Design organizes a CrossFit center with a strong industrial identity and a complex wellness programme. Reception, café, two sports halls, locker rooms, steam bath, sauna, swimming pool and Jacuzzi come together in an environment that combines exercise, recovery and social experience.

Lighting plays a decisive role in the atmosphere. Reception areas convey a calmer mood, while the sports halls gain energy through directional lighting. The result is a gym that treats the intensity of training and the process of recovery as parts of the same experience.

 

 

8. Pow Box Fitness Boxing Club in Athens | GJP Design & Construction

ek Issue: 258 | June 2021

 

In Athens, Pow Box Fitness Boxing Club by GJP Design & Construction occupies a neoclassical building, creating a strong contrast between the historic shell and a radically contemporary interior identity. Marble, metal mesh, neon, boxing gloves and theatrical lighting turn the gym into a scenographic environment for exercise.

The different floors organize reception, changing rooms, the boxing ring, a multi-purpose gym and a basement training area with a strong club-like atmosphere. The project shows how architecture can translate the energy of boxing into a complete spatial, visual and kinetic experience.

 

 

9. Molon Labe Gym | ADP Architecture Design Practice

 

In Engomi, Cyprus, Molon Labe Gym by ADP Architecture Design Practice transforms an abandoned industrial building from the 1960s into a contemporary fitness space. The programme includes free-weight areas, equipment zones, an MMA cage, martial arts areas, changing rooms and support functions, while the intervention maintains references to the industrial memory of the shell.

The new façade redefines the gym’s relationship with the street, combining the impression of a solid corten volume with a curtain wall that opens visibility toward the main exercise space. Inside, exposed services, the new metal roof and targeted lighting highlight bodily intensity and use as central elements of the architecture.

 

 

10. Nao Longevity Hub in Minos Palace | Stones & Walls

ek Issue: 302 | November 2025 – The Hotel Issue

 

At Minos Palace Resort in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Nao Longevity Hub by Stones & Walls explores how interior design can support a broader approach to wellbeing and longevity. Movement through space, contact with the natural landscape, light, materiality and atmosphere are treated as interconnected elements.

The experience is organized around the concept of flow, from personalised assessment to movement, treatment and rest. Rather than being revealed from a single point, the programme unfolds through a sequence of thresholds. Changes in light, enclosure, texture and atmosphere shape a gradual transition towards a calmer rhythm.

 

Against the rugged coastline of southern Crete, Archway Enclosure by Entopos Architects transforms an existing structure into a summer residence with direct access to the sea. The intervention preserves the original footprint of the building while reorganizing the relationship between interior, exterior and landscape.

The 1,800 m² plot remains largely undeveloped, with the historic fortress of Frangokastello forming the principal point of reference in the wider surroundings. This setting informs an architecture shaped by enclosure and exposure: the residence turns selectively towards the sea while drawing on the defensive character of the local built landscape.

Arches between interior and landscape

Within the existing footprint, the former living and kitchen areas were reorganized to create two independent rooms with uninterrupted views towards the open sea.

The transition between inside and outside is articulated through a sequence of arches that become the defining element of the façades. Rather than functioning as an applied motif, the arch regulates movement and frames successive views of the landscape.

This approach is particularly evident where sheltered spaces open towards the coast. The geometry of the openings creates a gradual transition from the more protected interior to the exposed seaside setting.

 

 

References to fortress architecture

The northern side of the residence is deliberately more introverted. Small openings recall the narrow loopholes of defensive structures, while the inclined wall surfaces draw on the Venetian scarpo, the sloping base characteristic of fortifications.

These elements establish a clear contrast between the two principal orientations of the house. To the north, the architecture becomes heavier and more enclosed; towards the south and the sea, it opens through arches, shaded areas and framed views.

A perforated suspended pergola completes the southern façade, filtering the strong sunlight while preserving the visual relationship with the coast.

Auxiliary structures as part of the composition

Existing structures on either side of the main building were incorporated into the overall design.

To the west, a 15 m² space was converted into an independent guest unit with a private bathroom. Two new walls with arched openings increase privacy while creating a gradual connection with the surrounding landscape.

To the east, former sheds associated with an improvised grilling area were transformed into storage and an outdoor kitchen with a barbecue. A waterproof pergola extends over an adjoining shaded sitting area, bringing the different functions together.

The outdoor living space continues along the northern boundary. Here, another arch framed by perforated brick directs the view towards the sea, repeating the project’s principal architectural device at the scale of the landscape.

 

 

Water, planting and the existing terrain

Landscape design forms an integral part of the intervention. At the eastern edge of the property, an existing well was preserved and incorporated into a new water zone containing a swimming pool and hydromassage area.

Low stone walls, rising no higher than 45 cm, follow curved lines through the site and discreetly define more private areas without creating rigid boundaries.

Planting is organized in different heights to strengthen the sense of seclusion and enrich the existing vegetation. Islands of endemic Cretan aromatic plants and herbs further connect the residence with the local landscape.

The material palette responds to the demanding coastal conditions. Marble and local stone are used for the floors, while durable timber forms the frames and pergolas. Together with the arches, stone walls and layered planting, these materials create a residence that draws from the character of the place without directly reproducing traditional forms.

 

Originally published in Maison de Campagne 2025, an annual edition by ek Architectural Publications.

Mold Architects was founded in 2011 by Iliana Kerestetzi, an architect who studied in Athens and New York. Based in Athens and Serifos, the award-winning practice works across the full spectrum of design, extending beyond the architecture of buildings. Regardless of scale or programme, its projects maintain the same investigative approach, seeking clear and precisely targeted responses.

 

S.M.: You belong to a generation of architectural practices that emerged during the financial crisis, maintaining a base in Serifos alongside a second office in Athens. How did you navigate this condition, and how did you use it to your advantage almost a decade later?

I.K.: In 2013, I had the good fortune to build my first project, a vacation home in Serifos. During the years that followed, the proposals we received mainly concerned designs intended for off-plan property sales.

That model ultimately failed to bear fruit, and most of those projects were never built. Nevertheless, during a very difficult period, we were able to practise architecture, evolve and delve more deeply into the subject of our work. We developed a clear direction and a conscious approach to selecting projects at a time when, in reality, there was no luxury of choice.

With patience and optimism, we overcame that obstacle. Much later, we are preparing to see many more of our projects realized.

 

 

S.M.: Designing vacation housing requires architects to reconcile demands for “authenticity” and belonging to a particular “place” with residents’ desire for amenities associated with a different way of life. How do you maintain this balance in your projects?

I.K.: I understand the quotation marks around the word “authenticity,” and I assume you are referring to an architecture that tends to reproduce “traditional” structures, materials and construction techniques. It does so to approach the idea of the old, the pure and the traditional, which is, of course, an established tourism product.

The task, however, is clearly more difficult than uncritical reproduction. We belong to the present, with everything that entails—with increasingly complex needs, but also with constantly evolving tools and means—and we are not nostalgic for the past.

Yet we also belong to the place. Whether considered through its geomorphology or its history, the place is the starting point of our thinking, the subject of our analysis and the reservoir from which we draw our ideas. These are simple and clear ideas, with reason and substance, capable of weaving the thread that connects us with the place, its past, its present and its future.

 

 

S.M.: Having worked on many small-scale projects, how did you approach the transition to large hotel developments? What can be retained, and what is lost from your architectural approach when the scale changes?

I.K.: Our approach to architecture is certainly not affected by the size of a project, although the requirements may differ.

One issue that we clearly do not encounter in a residence is the accommodation of extensive back-of-house infrastructure without disturbing the immediacy of the relationship between the user and the landscape that we seek to establish. It is a machine in constant motion that must operate silently while providing every necessary service.

Another challenge is finding ways to introduce the idea of the small into a larger scale. This may be achieved by minimizing the building footprint. Alternatively, the design can prevent the building’s total volume from being perceived from any of its individual parts.

Once uninterrupted visual contact is removed, the scale immediately diminishes. The architecture consequently becomes more approachable and humane.

 

Read the full interview in ek issue 247 | May 2020.

Located in Patras, Dyo Exi Deka by KARN Studio transforms a 173 m² interior into an open and permeable space that mediates between the street and the activities within. Led by Nancy Karagianni, the design reinterprets the familiar typology of the neighbourhood store through transparency, spatial continuity and an emphasis on collective use.

Large openings, pivoting doors and low thresholds weaken the conventional boundary between inside and outside. Rather than functioning as an enclosed commercial interior, the space extends its activity towards the pavement, maintaining a continuous visual and physical relationship with the city.

 

 

An open interior without partitions

The interior is organized as a single flexible space. Instead of dividing the plan through walls, the existing structural columns articulate different areas while maintaining overall continuity.

A clear visual axis connects the entrance with the service counter, allowing the programme to unfold gradually and remain immediately legible. The generous ceiling height reinforces the sense of openness, while suspended linear lighting fixtures introduce rhythm and scale within the large volume.

The lighting system also contributes to the industrial character of the interior. Metal frames, visible installations and off-the-shelf elements are deliberately left exposed, establishing a direct relationship between construction, use and atmosphere.

Material zones within a continuous space

The material palette is deliberately restrained. Exposed brick gives the service counter a warmer and more tactile presence, contrasting with the continuous floor and the neutral surfaces of the surrounding envelope.

Near the façade, a zone of green-and-white tiles marks places for pausing and interaction. Rather than functioning as a physical boundary, the change in material subtly guides movement and distinguishes use within the otherwise continuous plan.

Different spatial conditions therefore emerge without compromising the openness of the interior. Materials, furniture and lighting become the principal tools of organization.

 

 

An interior connected to the city

Natural light enters through glazing along two sides of the space, maintaining visual contact with the surrounding streets. Planting softens the robust material character and introduces a more familiar, almost domestic scale.

The furniture arrangement remains adaptable, allowing the interior to respond both to everyday patterns of use and to larger collective gatherings. This flexibility reinforces the project’s understanding of the neighbourhood venue as a shared urban room rather than a fixed composition.

Dyo Exi Deka balances the directness of an industrial interior with moments of warmth and informality. Through its open edges and adaptable organization, the project positions everyday commercial activity within the broader life of the street.

Hidden Spa–Water Hope is a 3,000m² spa and mud-bath complex in Bãi Dài, Cam Ranh, Vietnam. Designed by IDEE Architects, the building is set low within the coastal sand dunes instead of appearing as a distinct object above them.

The architecture follows the existing terrain and gathers the program around a central water courtyard. This inward-looking arrangement responds to an exposed coastal setting shaped by intense sunlight, strong winds and initially limited vegetation. Water, planting and deep shade create a protected environment for bathing, treatment and rest.

 

 

Architecture beneath the dunes

The spa develops as a continuous curved structure around the courtyard. Its roof follows the profile of the dunes and becomes a walkable planted landscape. From higher points, the architecture recedes beneath vegetation and preserves the continuity of the surrounding topography.

Adapting the building to the natural levels also reduced the need for extensive excavation. The result is a low intervention that retains the relationship between the dune, the preserved landscape and the new program.

A mature tree that stood on the site before construction was retained. The design developed around its position, turning it into a point of orientation within the composition.

Water as an environmental core

Visitors enter through shaded passages defined by stone walls and repeated rows of timber columns. Rather than revealing the complex immediately, the circulation gradually opens towards the central courtyard.

Reflecting pools, planted islands and shaded walkways occupy its interior. The bathing areas, mud-treatment rooms and supporting wellness spaces are organized around this sheltered oasis. Consequently, the rooms maintain a close visual and environmental connection with water and vegetation.

The courtyard is more than a visual center. Its water surfaces and planting contribute to a cooler and more humid microclimate, softening the dry and exposed conditions of the dunes. Changes in shade, temperature and reflected light also shape the visitors’ movement through the complex.

 

 

Local materials and passive cooling

The restrained material palette consists primarily of locally sourced stone, timber and bamboo. Thick stone walls provide thermal mass and protect the internal spaces from direct solar exposure. Meanwhile, open corridors support cross-ventilation throughout the circulation areas.

Bamboo ceilings filter light and introduce a lighter texture above the heavier stone surfaces. Exposed concrete appears alongside the natural materials, reinforcing the contrast between solid walls and open, shaded passages.

The planted roof further limits heat gain. Rainwater collected from its sloping surfaces is reused for landscape irrigation, supporting the vegetation introduced around the courtyard and across the roof.

A landscape transformed over time

The presence of water and shade has encouraged planting to develop around the building. As a result, the formerly sparse dune landscape is gradually becoming a small oasis. The project does not treat the landscape as a decorative layer. Instead, it allows the relationship between architecture, vegetation and climate to continue evolving.

In Cheonan, South Korea, Korean Football Park by UNS creates a new national home for the Korea Football Association. The 450,427 m² campus brings together training, recovery, education, public engagement and institutional identity within a single landscape-led masterplan.

Conceived as a long-term base for Korean football, the project serves the national team while also supporting youth development, women’s football and a wider public audience. Across the site, elite sports facilities are combined with accommodation, healthcare, retail and public spaces, allowing the complex to operate throughout the year.

 

 

A campus for football and public life

The masterplan organizes the site through a clear progression from public to private areas. At its centre, a public plaza brings together the main points of arrival and creates a civic focus for the campus.

Around this central space, the key programmes are positioned with legibility: the indoor stadium, the outdoor stadium integrated with the KFA headquarters and the football museum. This arrangement gives visitors a clear orientation while allowing athletes, staff and operational teams to move efficiently between facilities.

By combining the outdoor stadium with the KFA headquarters, the project places decision-making, coaching, medical support and public presence within close proximity. The result is a compact institutional core, where administration and sport remain visibly connected.

Training, recovery and support

The campus includes 11 football fields, an indoor climate-controlled arena, an outdoor stadium, gyms, physical therapy areas, healthcare facilities and athlete accommodation. Together, these spaces respond to the contemporary reality of elite sport, where performance depends on a wider ecosystem of training, data, recovery and wellbeing.

Training areas are placed in close relation to medical and therapy facilities. This reduces unnecessary movement and supports the daily rhythm of athletes, from exertion to assessment and recovery.

At the same time, residential and wellness spaces are positioned to offer calm and privacy. Natural finishes, planted areas and views towards the landscape contribute to an atmosphere focused on rest as much as performance.

 

 

A terraced landscape

The design responds directly to the sloping terrain of the Cheonan site. Rather than treating the campus as a flat sports complex, UNS uses a terraced topography to organize movement, create level playing surfaces and structure the transition between public, semi-public and private areas.

This approach gives the project a clear spatial hierarchy. Public spaces remain open and visible, while the more private areas for players and staff are placed deeper within the campus.

The landscape therefore acts as more than a setting. It becomes an organizing system, shaping circulation, orientation and the relationship between buildings and pitches.

Collaboration and future adaptability

The project was developed through collaboration between UNS and a network of specialists in stadium logistics, sports science and venue operations. The design process included exchanges with the Johan Cruijff ArenA team, whose expertise informed security zoning, media requirements, public access and operational planning.

This knowledge helped the masterplan address both current and future needs. The campus anticipates developments in training methods, sports science and data-led coaching, with technical infrastructure designed to accommodate change over time.

Through this combination of architecture, landscape and operational expertise, Korean Football Park offers more than a collection of sports facilities. It creates a coherent campus for athletes, institutions and supporters, giving Korean football a visible public identity and a long-term framework for future development.

Minthis Spa by Woods Bagot stands at the centre of a large wellness resort near Paphos, Cyprus. Positioned on the crest of a hill, the building overlooks the Ezousa Valley and the historic Stavros tis Minthis monastery.

The architecture responds differently to the two sides of the site. Towards the resort’s main square and stepped outdoor amphitheatre, the building presents a controlled and largely enclosed façade. In contrast, its opposite side opens towards the valley and the distant horizon.

 

 

Emerging from the hillside

The wellness centre appears to rise from the sloping terrain. Its fragmented planted roofs form a geometric extension of the landscape, while the low horizontal composition limits the building’s visual impact when seen from above.

The two-storey spa contains 2,100m² of public wellness facilities. Its programme includes eight specialized treatment rooms, four of which have private internal courtyards. A 25m heated indoor pool, a smaller thermal spa pool, a gym, a yoga room, a relaxation lounge and body-treatment areas complete the main facilities.

A further 700m² service level is located at the base of the building. Reserved for staff, it accommodates the spa’s supporting functions without interrupting the sequence of spaces used by visitors.

From the square to the courtyard

Visitors approach the spa from the resort’s central square along an outdoor route. On this side, a grid of standardized exposed-concrete volumes creates a protective façade. Gaps between them allow climbing plants to grow across the surface.

The concrete grid is interrupted at the entrance, where glazing reveals the central courtyard beyond. Here, a vertical garden of aromatic local plants is arranged within black metal containers. Their repeated geometry echoes the pattern of the external façade.

This planted courtyard forms the spatial centre of the project. It leads towards the reception and lobby, while maintaining long views across the resort and the surrounding terrain. A white Volakas marble reception desk stands against exposed concrete, accompanied by a wall-mounted ceramic composition. Timber surfaces across the walls and ceilings soften the concrete structure, while grey stone defines the floor.

 

 

Graduated levels of quiet

The internal programme is divided between two wings according to the degree of quiet required by each function. The two pools and gym are placed to the left of the courtyard. On the opposite side, the treatment rooms follow a linear arrangement that supports greater privacy and acoustic separation.

Four treatment rooms incorporate private open-air courtyards. These enclosed spaces bring daylight, vegetation and fresh air into the treatment areas without exposing them to the wider circulation zones.

Towards the valley, the principal functional volumes are emphasized by substantial frames of untreated natural limewood. Transitional spaces occupy the intervals between them. Openings reaching up to 5m in height frame views of the green landscape and draw daylight deep into the building.

Materiality and framed views

The interior combines natural timber battens, board-marked concrete and grey stone in both polished and rough finishes. Natural and artificial lighting reveal the differences between these surfaces, while reinforcing the visual axes towards the exterior.

The indoor pool is positioned directly beside full-height glazing. Reflections from the water extend the view into the landscape, while the timber-lined ceiling introduces warmth to the space. Elsewhere, darker corridors and treatment areas create a gradual transition towards more enclosed and private rooms.

Furniture and decorative elements follow the same material approach. Soft organic forms, woven surfaces, timber and heavily textured fabrics balance the geometric structure of the architecture.

 

The project was first published in print in ek magazine 281 | October 2023, a monthly issue by ek Architectural Publications.

Located in Haras del Bosque, a residential development and nature reserve in southeastern Puebla, Mexico, AE House is shaped by the dense vegetation of its setting. The landscape guides the relationship between the residence and its surroundings, while creating a sense of shelter.

Facing the street, the house maintains a horizontal, sober and understated presence that protects the privacy of the interior. Once inside, the scale changes. A central corridor structures the project and directs movement toward a sequence of courtyards, voids, bridges and platforms.

 

 

Staggered Volumes on the Slope

The house is fragmented into staggered volumes that adapt to the topography and open toward the adjacent hill and the pine-oak forest. The arrangement establishes a direct relationship between architecture and views, gradually weakening the boundary between interior and exterior.

Changes in level become part of everyday movement through the house. The circulation repeatedly opens toward the forest and the terrain, allowing the landscape to remain present from different heights.

The continuity between walls and sloping roofs gives the composition a clear volumetric reading, reinterpreting the elemental silhouette of the house through a contemporary architectural language.

Natural Light Through the Section

Continuous skylights extend from wall to ceiling, bringing natural light deep into the interior and changing its atmosphere throughout the day. Even the most enclosed spaces maintain a connection with the outdoors through variations of light and shadow.

The house is therefore not organized around views alone. Light enters from above and between the volumes, allowing changing external conditions to remain perceptible within the more sheltered areas of the interior.

 

 

Weight and Lightness

The material organization is based on a contrast between weight and lightness. The ground floor forms a solid base of concrete, exposed masonry and cement finishes, while also functioning as a retaining structure against the slope.

Above it, the upper floor takes on a lighter character through a steel frame and an envelope of dark metal panels. The two levels are therefore differentiated both structurally and materially.

Circulation turns the slope into an active part of the house. Inhabiting AE House involves climbing, crossing and pausing at different heights, transforming movement into an opportunity to observe the landscape while remaining sheltered by the architecture.

The Greek Parliament has ratified the concession agreement granting U Resort Vasilitsa, a company within D Group, the right to use, operate, manage and develop the Vasilitsa National Ski Centre.

The agreement was approved on 9 July 2026 and subsequently enacted as Law 5318/2026. It provides for an initial 30-year concession, with the possibility of a single ten-year extension. The legal milestone allows the company to move from strategic planning towards the implementation of its investment programme.

 

 

From a winter facility to a four-season destination

U Resort’s stated objective is to modernize the existing infrastructure and expand Vasilitsa beyond its established role as a winter-sports destination. The strategy envisages a mountain resort that can operate throughout the year, combining skiing with hospitality, outdoor activities, sport and educational programmes.

This transition responds to a broader shift in mountain tourism. As winter seasons become less predictable and visitor expectations change, ski centres increasingly need programmes that are not limited to snow-based activity. The proposed year-round model aims to broaden the destination’s operating period and establish new reasons to visit the wider Pindus region outside the winter months.

The company has not yet released a detailed architectural or construction programme with the press announcement. Consequently, the scope, phasing and design of the individual facilities will need to be assessed as the relevant studies and visual material become available.

Regional development and long-term operation

D Group presents the project as a long-term investment in Western Macedonia and the wider mountain economy. Its objectives include the creation of employment, the attraction of visitors throughout the year and the reinforcement of businesses connected with accommodation, food, sport and outdoor recreation.

The regional impact, however, will depend on more than the modernization of the ski facilities. Accessibility, environmental management, connections with nearby settlements and coordination with the wider tourism network will be central to the project’s long-term performance.

D Group chairman Dr Dimitris Derpanis has connected the investment with his personal ties to Grevena. In the company’s announcement, he describes the project as an opportunity to support the development of his place of origin while creating value for the local community.

Moving from planning to construction

According to U Resort CEO Yiannis Litos, the ratification of the agreement enables the company to begin implementing its operational plan. The company states that the programme will combine upgraded facilities, hospitality infrastructure and new visitor experiences.

U Resort intends to begin the first construction works in spring 2027. This remains the company’s announced timetable and will be shaped by the completion of the required studies, approvals and preparatory procedures.

The redevelopment of Vasilitsa therefore begins with a clear strategic ambition: to retain the destination’s identity as a ski centre while extending its activity across all four seasons. The architectural, environmental and operational decisions that follow will determine how this ambition is translated into a resilient mountain destination.

 

U Resort | D Group

The project concerns the redesign of Varkiza Beach, one of Attica’s most popular and heavily used coastal areas. The complex brought together surviving elements of 1960s modernism and later interventions that had gradually altered its character, presenting the architects with the challenge of establishing a new identity without erasing the existing one.

 

 

Arched typologies

The design draws on mid-century modern architecture and the prefabricated curved forms already present within the complex. The aim was to create an atmosphere of understated elegance, calm and natural harmony.

Against the different orthogonal grids inherited from the modernist complex, repeated curves in both the horizontal and vertical planes establish a coherent architectural vocabulary. The new interventions are applied as “second skins” to the existing building typologies, giving them a renewed identity through soft, organic forms that settle into the natural setting.

The new main entrance is defined by pronounced arched forms and conceived as an experiential gateway and primary point of reference. A separate VIP entrance follows the same logic, using the repetition of the arch to establish a distinct reception sequence.

Shade, food and movement

The new F&B area develops beneath a large pergola shaped by natural materials and organic lines. Sheltering a series of food trucks, it creates an open and active area for gathering.

The existing cabana buildings and communal restrooms are redesigned in the same architectural language. At the same time, the routes leading to and from them are reinforced through the recurring arched typologies, allowing a single formal system to connect the different parts of the resort.

 

 

Materials, landscape and light

The material palette is restrained and earthy. A natural kourasani finish is applied to the exterior shells, while cement render is used inside, both in sandy tones. Bamboo elements form shading devices and enclosures.

The combination of textures and curved forms strengthens the experiential character of the project. Materials respond to the changing daylight, producing patterns of light and shadow and contributing to an atmosphere of calm and summer comfort.

The landscape is redesigned through targeted interventions, new routes and planting choices. A discreet but dynamic lighting strategy supports the sense of summer naturalness and ease without interrupting the continuity of the landscape.

The overall intention was to establish a strong identity without imposing on the site. The beach operates as a continuous system of experiences, structured by curved forms and materials that change with the sunlight. Routes gradually unfold the complex, leading visitors through a sequence of spaces and encounters with the surrounding landscape.

Located in São Paulo, MAS House is the result of a complete remodeling by SUITE Arquitetos, conceived with spatial integration as its starting point and materiality as a structuring element.

The residence was reorganized around the family’s daily life, strengthening spatial continuity and the relationship between interior and exterior. Throughout the house, light, materials and furniture work together to create a calm and coherent living environment.

The Living Area as the Center of the House

At the center of the residence, the living area organizes the social program, bringing the sitting room, dining room, kitchen and outdoor space into the same spatial field.

Conceived as a versatile environment, it accommodates different forms of use, from everyday family life to quieter moments, always oriented toward the garden. Large openings expand the sense of space and make natural light an active component of the architecture, changing the atmosphere of the interiors throughout the day.

The outdoor area is therefore present from the main living spaces rather than treated as a separate part of the house. The garden becomes a constant visual reference and reinforces the continuity between domestic life and the surrounding landscape.

 

 

Material Continuity and Furniture

Materiality defines the identity of the project. Brushed Brazilian travertine establishes a continuous base across the social area, while cabinetry in dehydrated oak veneer extends through the interiors and reinforces the unity of the composition.

Woodstone quartzite, integrated into niches and the dining-room cabinetry, introduces texture and depth. Together with fabrics, smooth surfaces and carefully distributed lighting, the material palette creates a subtly golden atmosphere without visual excess.

Furniture operates as an extension of the architecture. In the living room, the side table and the lamp establish a balance between form and materiality.

The sofa was redesigned specifically for the project. Its straighter and more pronounced lines give it a central role in the composition and reinforce the project’s custom-designed character.

 

 

Private Rooms and the Garden

In the private areas, material continuity and chromatic neutrality create a quieter atmosphere. The primary suite combines woven textures, fabrics and timber flooring, with direct access to a balcony that re-establishes the connection with the exterior.

In the powder room, marble is used on the wall panel and for the sculpted basin with a honed finish. Diffuse lighting emphasizes the texture of the stone without dominating the space.

Outside, dense landscaping surrounds the pool and creates a private setting removed from the pace of the city. Furniture with simple lines and durable materials supports continuous everyday use.

Through the relationship between spatial integration, natural light and material continuity, MAS House proposes a fluid way of living in which the interior, garden, furniture and daily routines form part of the same domestic environment.

Perched on the summit of a hill, Pride Rock Villa combines the simplicity of Mediterranean living with refined finishes and high construction precision. The residence commands a 270-degree panorama towards Kalo Livadi, Divounia and Kalafati, while the islet of Ktapodi and the island of Naxos gradually emerge on the distant horizon.

Modern architectural lines are combined with elements drawn from the local building tradition, establishing a close relationship with the natural landscape and the continuous presence of water. The design brings artisanal craftsmanship together with contemporary technologies, creating an environment defined by clarity, comfort and calm.

 

 

A 270-degree horizon

Four principles guided the design: the orientation of the building volumes towards the principal views, the careful consideration of the sun’s trajectory to maximize natural light, protection from the strong northern winds and a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces.

The rocky topography was central to the architectural composition. Rather than being treated simply as a backdrop, the characteristics of the terrain determined the main axes of the building and its visual connections with the landscape. Outdoor seating areas were positioned in sheltered locations, allowing the panoramic views to remain accessible even when the prevailing winds are strong.

Two wings shaped by the landscape

The residence is divided into two wings, each associated with a triangular swimming pool. One is oriented towards Kalafati and the other towards Kalo Livadi, reinforcing the building’s response to the two principal directions of the site.

The first wing is white and cubical. Its ground floor contains an open-plan living area with direct access to the outdoor spaces, while the primary bedroom occupies the upper level and opens towards uninterrupted views of the sea.

The second wing is built in stone and partly embedded in the terrain beneath a planted roof. It contains three ensuite bedrooms, where cross ventilation and natural light are provided through a sunken rear courtyard. The contrast between the two wings allows the residence to alternate between a more exposed, elevated presence and a quieter integration into the hillside.

 

 

The rock as a spatial anchor

At the centre of the plot, an existing rock formation was preserved and incorporated into the architectural layout. An internal courtyard wraps around it, bringing a fragment of the original landscape directly into the everyday experience of the residence. From the top of the rock, the broader panorama of the Aegean is revealed.

This approach extends throughout the project: the natural features of the site are not concealed but used to define movement, views and spatial relationships. Architecture, water and terrain are brought together in a composition that combines the functional requirements of a summer residence with the distinctive character of its location.

Originally published in MykonosVillas Vol.5, a special edition by ek magazine.

Prefabricated Concrete as Architectural Identity

In Chave, Arouca, Portugal, G–5 Houses by Summary is conceived as a fully prefabricated reinforced-concrete residential complex. Modular panels form all major building elements, including façades, roofs and interior partitions, allowing construction to be streamlined while giving the development a clear architectural identity.

Rather than treating prefabrication only as a technical method, the project uses it as the basis for spatial organization, material expression and construction logic. The repetition and typification of components produce a building that is direct, legible and strongly defined by its system.

Five Dwellings, One Shared Order

The complex contains five dwellings: three two-storey units and two single-storey units. On the ground floor, the houses share a regular rectangular plan, with each unit benefiting from two free façades.

Above this base, three independent volumes are positioned irregularly across the broad roof slab. The spaces between them become outdoor terraces, accessed through an external staircase on the eastern side of the building. From there, the terraces open views toward the Serra da Freita.

 

 

Direct Access and Reduced Circulation

Each dwelling has its own street entrance, leading first to a sheltered exterior area. From this threshold, the main door opens directly into the living room, reducing circulation and eliminating the need for transitional spaces such as atriums.

The plan is organized with an emphasis on efficiency and direct use. The entrance sequence is brief, the living room becomes the distribution point, and the houses avoid unnecessary spatial hierarchy. This economy of movement reinforces the project’s broader logic of constructional clarity.

Modular Panels as Structure and Enclosure

Interior partitions are made from prefabricated concrete panels that function simultaneously as enclosure and structural bracing. This removes the need for additional masonry and makes concrete the dominant material both outside and inside the building.

The specific production process gives each panel one smooth face and one textured face. The design responds to this condition strategically: smooth surfaces are exposed wherever possible, while rough surfaces are concealed behind built-in elements, kitchen equipment or other fixed components.

 

 

Sunlight, Ventilation and Everyday Comfort

The east–west orientation of the dwellings supports natural cross-ventilation and sunlight. This allows the houses to maintain comfort without relying on mechanical cooling or ventilation systems.

Environmental performance is therefore approached through the simplest means: orientation, free façades, direct openings and the thermal mass of concrete. The result is a compact residential complex where construction system, spatial efficiency and passive comfort are closely aligned.

A Clear Constructional Logic

G–5 Houses demonstrates how prefabrication can produce more than speed and efficiency. Here, it gives shape to an entire architectural language, from the large-scale organization of the five dwellings to the tactile presence of concrete panels in the interiors.

Through its modular system, compact planning and terrace spaces overlooking the landscape, the project proposes a pragmatic but distinctive model of collective housing: rational in its construction, precise in its spatial organization and open to the surrounding territory.

A Green Public Landmark at the Entrance to the Village

At the southern entrance to the municipality of Barbian / Barbiano in South Tyrol, Roland Baldi Architects designed a multifunctional public ensemble that combines education, mobility, social interaction and local development. The project brings together a kindergarten, daycare centre, children’s restaurant, tourist office and public infrastructure, rethinking the role of a civic building in a rural context.

Part of Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan and financed by the European Union through NextGenerationEU, the building operates as a new green landmark at the entrance to the village. Its architecture responds simultaneously to topography, everyday use and the need for a stronger connection between the public hub and the village centre.

Two Buildings, One Idea

The complex is composed of two separate buildings positioned on opposite sides of the street. On the hillside, the larger volume accommodates the kindergarten, nursery, cafeteria and protected play areas. Across the road, a smaller structure houses the tourist office and barrier-free public restrooms.

Next to the tourist office, a stair and lift tower provides barrier-free access from the existing two-storey underground parking garage directly to the village centre. A bridge spans the road and connects the two buildings, becoming both a functional link and a defining architectural element of the ensemble.

 

 

Learning Through Movement and Openness

The architecture supports a pedagogical approach based on movement, openness and self-directed learning. Instead of following the conventional classroom model, the building is organized through permeable, thematically defined areas: creative and research zones, quiet rooms and role-play spaces.

Corridors widen into small meeting islands, used as lounges, play zones and retreat niches. This spatial variety enriches everyday teaching and allows the building to function as an active educational landscape rather than a sequence of closed rooms.

Layered Program on a Steep Slope

The steep slope becomes the central generator of the project. Because of the terrain, the functions are organized horizontally in layers: technical spaces at the base, educational areas above and a safe outdoor play area on the roof.

On the first basement level, which opens fully toward the valley and benefits from natural light, two group rooms and the children’s restaurant are located, together with a kitchen that also serves the neighbouring primary school. The ground floor includes another nursery group and the independently organized daycare centre, with group and quiet rooms, kitchenette, cloakroom, sanitary facilities and an indoor terrace. On the top floor, a multifunctional exercise room connects directly to the protected playground.

 

 

Tourist Office, Mobility and Public Infrastructure

The tourist office extends the building’s role beyond education. It introduces an information point, public facilities and a newly designed bus stop into the ensemble, strengthening the project’s connection with visitors, residents and daily mobility.

Traffic and pedestrian flows are clearly structured, while two speed bumps slow down vehicles and improve safety around the entrance. Through this combination of education, transport and public service, the project becomes a civic threshold for the village.

Concrete Base and Green Timber Façade

The building’s material strategy follows its topographic logic. A robust exposed-concrete base anchors the structure to the slope, while the upper levels are built in lightweight timber construction. The vertically structured, green-glazed timber façade gives the ensemble a recognizable appearance from a distance and establishes a distinct presence at the entrance to Barbiano.

The architecture does not conceal the complexity of the program. Instead, it gives it clarity, using the landscape as a design generator and transforming the slope into an organized public section.

 

 

Sustainability and Child-Friendly Atmosphere

The building was constructed to the Climate House Gold standard. Photovoltaic panels contribute to its energy supply, while heating is provided by a heat pump, supported by controlled ventilation with heat recovery.

Inside, light-coloured materials, consistent daylighting and local wood create a calm, child-friendly atmosphere. Oiled floors, solid wood furniture and acoustically effective wooden ceilings define the interiors, allowing architecture and education to work as a single environment.

A Place for the Future

With the multifunctional ensemble in Barbiano, Roland Baldi Architects transform a complex functional program into a clear architectural narrative. Educational building, sustainable mobility and tourist infrastructure are brought together in a single public gesture.

The result is a meeting place, a point of arrival and a new landmark for the village: a green bridge that connects levels, uses and communities, while opening new possibilities for rural public architecture.

Vechro received two distinctions at the Home Improvement Awards 2026, with the awards recognizing two different areas of the company’s activity: product development and social responsibility.

The first distinction was awarded to Vechro Pro Acrylic PU Hybrid in the Paints | Outdoor category. Designed for exterior surfaces, the product combines high resistance, breathability and advanced protection, addressing the performance requirements of contemporary building applications.

The second award concerned the company’s “Packages of Love” initiative in the CSR | Product category. Through the programme, Vechro supported people and communities in need, extending the company’s activity beyond the development and distribution of paint products.

Product performance and responsible business

The two distinctions reflect two parallel aspects of Vechro’s approach. On the one hand, the company continues to invest in products designed to respond to changing market and building-performance requirements. On the other, it incorporates social initiatives into a broader understanding of responsible business practice.

The distinction for Vechro Pro Acrylic PU Hybrid places particular emphasis on technical performance in exterior applications, where durability and the management of moisture are key factors in the long-term protection of surfaces.

At the same time, the recognition of “Packages of Love” highlights the role that organised corporate initiatives can play in supporting wider social needs.

Two awards, one broader direction

By recognising both a specific product and a social initiative, the Home Improvement Awards 2026 distinctions bring together two fields that are often discussed separately: technological development and social impact.

For Vechro, the awards underline a broader direction centred on quality, innovation and responsible growth, with value created through both the products introduced to the market and the initiatives developed around the company’s wider social role.

 

Vechro Paints

Eltrak Group has inaugurated a new store in Perama, strengthening its presence in one of the most active centres of Greece’s maritime and ship-repair industry. Located at 393 Leoforos Dimokratias, the new facility brings the Group’s products, specialist personnel and technical services closer to the companies and workshops operating across the wider ship-repair zone.

The opening reflects Eltrak’s strategy of establishing a direct physical presence where the daily maintenance, repair and technical requirements of the maritime sector are concentrated. Through the new location, the Group provides local access to products and services associated with Caterpillar, Palfinger and MaK.

The inauguration was attended by Eltrak clients, representatives of the shipping sector and senior executives from the international companies represented by the Group, who travelled to Greece for the occasion.

 

 

A strategic presence in the ship-repair zone

Perama plays a central role in the repair and technical support of vessels operating in Greece and the wider region. The new Eltrak facility has been developed in response to the increasing demand for immediate access to specialist personnel, equipment, spare parts and technical assistance.

The location brings the company’s support infrastructure closer to technical departments and repair crews, reducing the distance between the point of service and the maritime activities it supports.

The facility forms part of a broader network through which Eltrak provides engines and generators, lifting systems, cranes, genuine spare parts and specialist technical assistance. For maritime applications, the Group’s portfolio includes Cat engines and generators, MaK service and Palfinger lifting equipment.

Direct contact and technical support

Commenting on the new opening, Natasha Covas-Kneiss, CEO of Eltrak Group, highlighted the importance of establishing a permanent presence in Perama:

“Our strategic decision to establish a physical presence in Perama underlines our commitment to being where the heart of Greek maritime operations beats. With this new facility, we offer immediate, personal contact and Caterpillar technical support to the technical departments and workshops of the ship-repair zone.”

She added that the Group’s objective remains the practical support of Greek shipping through the technical expertise and reliability developed by Eltrak over several decades.

Closer to the operational needs of shipping

Founded in 1982, Eltrak is the official Caterpillar representative in Greece and also represents international brands including Palfinger and MaK. Its activities extend across construction, maritime operations, energy, recycling, transport and logistics.

The new Perama store places this technical and commercial network directly within the working environment of the ship-repair zone. More than a new retail point, the facility is intended to function as a local interface between the Group’s technical capabilities and the day-to-day operational requirements of the maritime sector.

For Eltrak, the investment signals a move closer to its customers. For the wider Perama maritime ecosystem, it adds a new point of direct access to equipment, spare parts and specialist technical support.

 

Eltrak

Geometric Clarity and Landscape Integration

Located in Loulé, Portugal, PCG House by Visioarq Arquitectos is a residence that balances formal clarity, functional efficiency and a close relationship with the landscape. The design is structured through a refined volumetric composition, where distinct bodies are articulated with coherence and harmony.

The architectural language privileges pure and essential forms. Large glazed surfaces establish a direct dialogue between interior and exterior, allowing natural light to enter generously into the living areas and making the surrounding landscape part of everyday domestic life.

South-West Orientation and Natural Comfort

The social spaces are oriented to the south and west, playing a central role in the project’s strategy of openness. Generous windows frame the landscape while supporting natural cross-ventilation, an important factor for thermal comfort during the summer months.

Comfort and energy efficiency are therefore approached not only through technology, but through the careful calibration of orientation, siting and openings. The house uses its relationship with the sun, wind and topography as part of its environmental strategy.

 

 

Horizontality and Topography

The residence is anchored in a strong sense of horizontality. This gesture reduces the visual impact of the building on the terrain and strengthens its integration with the existing topography.

Each volume corresponds to a distinct function, yet the shared plasticity of the forms ensures unity and balance. Subtle projections and recesses in the façades create a changing interplay of light and shadow throughout the day, enriching both the spatial and sensory experience of the house.

Pool, Terraces and Outdoor Living

The relationship with the exterior is one of the defining principles of the project. To the south and west, an infinity pool extends toward the horizon, visually dissolving the boundary between architecture and landscape.

On the upper floor, the east-facing façade is set back from the ground floor, creating a sheltered terrace screened by a wall that ensures privacy from the adjacent street. To the west, shaded terraces with pergolas invite extended use of the outdoor living areas, reinforcing a way of inhabiting based on openness and proximity to nature.

 

 

Fluid Interiors and Everyday Flexibility

The interiors are fluid and interconnected, with seamless transitions toward the exterior spaces. This organization supports flexible use and reinforces the sense of continuity between the house, the terraces, the pool and the landscape.

The plan is shaped around everyday comfort, clear movement and the experience of natural light. Transparency does not function only as a formal device, but as a way of organizing domestic life around views, climate and exterior space.

Precision and Contextual Sensitivity

PCG House brings together geometric precision and contextual sensitivity. Its clarity of form, subtle integration into the landscape and capacity to provide environmental quality and comfort define a residence that is both visually controlled and deeply connected to the experience of living.

The project does not rely on excess. Instead, it uses proportion, orientation, light, shade and continuity with the outdoors to create a calm and efficient contemporary home.

Gratalum participates in the realization of The Ilisian, the new multifaceted destination being developed at the former Hilton Athens. The company has undertaken the fabrication and installation of aluminium systems across the project, addressing the requirements of a development of international scale and increased technical complexity.

The scope extends from the main tower to the lobby and common areas. Different aluminium systems are applied according to the function and construction requirements of each zone, with the aim of maintaining quality, functionality and visual consistency throughout the project.

 

 

Aluminium systems for the tower

In the tower, Exalco Space Replace minimal systems are used for the sliding frames, while Elvial W67BS systems are applied to the hinged openings.

The selection responds to the different types of openings required across the building and forms part of the wider package of aluminium applications undertaken by Gratalum.

 

 

Lobby and common areas

In the lobby and common areas, the project incorporates Exalco Albio 130 curtain-wall systems, Albio 135 door systems and Albio 127C Superthermo frames.

The company’s scope also includes Alufire fire-resistant systems, extending the aluminium package to areas with different functional and technical requirements.

Through the fabrication and installation of these systems across multiple parts of the development, Gratalum contributes to the coordination of the building envelope and openings at The Ilisian, bringing together a range of solutions within a project of exceptional scale.

Gratalum

An Operational Hub in the Vineyard

In Buellton, California, Alma Rosa Vineyard Barn by Clayton Korte is designed as a new equipment barn serving more than 50 acres of planted vineyard. Positioned at the heart of the property, the building supports vineyard blocks on both sides of the winery, creating an efficient operational hub for daily agricultural work.

The barn is carefully sited within the gently rolling terrain of California’s Central Coast. Its placement responds to the contours of the land, while maintaining clear views across the vineyard rows. Rather than appearing as a purely utilitarian structure, the project takes cues from the agrarian character of the region, balancing functionality with a strong sense of place.

A Durable Structure for Agricultural Work

The steel-framed structure provides expansive open-air covered space for the storage and maintenance of heavy farming equipment, tools and picking bins. Enclosed areas are also included, offering year-round workspace and supporting the practical needs of vineyard operations.

With a total area of 3,569 sq ft, including 2,677 sq ft of covered space and 892 sq ft of open-air area, the barn is compact but highly efficient. Its organization reflects the daily demands of viticulture, where storage, maintenance, access and durability are essential.

 

 

Weathering Steel, Perforated Metal and Concrete

The material palette is restrained and rugged. Weathering steel, perforated corrugated metal and cast-in-place concrete were selected for their durability, low-maintenance qualities and ability to age naturally over time.

These materials give the barn a direct and honest expression. They allow the building to withstand the elements while gradually developing a more embedded relationship with the landscape. The architecture does not attempt to hide its agricultural function; instead, it gives that function clarity and permanence.

Light, Air and Partial Concealment

Perforated metal cladding plays a central role in the character of the building. It filters light and air, while partially concealing the equipment stored inside. This gives the barn a layered presence: open and breathable, yet visually controlled.

The result is a structure that remains functional without becoming visually heavy. Its minimalist form and careful material expression allow it to recede into the vineyard, blending with its agricultural surroundings while maintaining a quiet architectural refinement.

 

 

Long-Term Stewardship

Alma Rosa Vineyard Barn is designed to endure and evolve with the vineyard. Its robust construction, efficient siting and low-maintenance material strategy reflect a long-term investment in both land stewardship and operational performance.

The project shows how agricultural infrastructure can be designed with care, without losing its directness or utility. Here, architecture supports work, landscape and time, producing a building that is modest in form but precise in its relationship to place.

A Winery Rooted in the Agricultural Landscape

In Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France, Les Terres Blanches Winery by JSPA Design is conceived as a multi-layered project within a predominantly rural and agricultural setting. The proposal includes the creation of a new wine cellar, the extension of an existing winery to increase production capacity, the addition of a shop and the development of new public event spaces.

The design establishes a clear relationship between the existing architecture and the new intervention. Rather than producing a single large object, the project creates a coherent whole through scale, typology and material continuity, allowing the extension to become part of the broader landscape of the village.

Four Volumes Around a Patio

The different functions of the winery are organized into four distinct volumes around a central patio. This fragmented arrangement gives the project a scale closer to the surrounding built environment, helping the new complex integrate into the existing village fabric.

The old and new parts of the winery are connected only through an underground passage. This allows the existing building and the new extension to remain visually distinct, placed side by side without direct contact, while still operating as a unified production and visitor experience.

 

 

Rammed Earth as Structure, Texture and Climate Strategy

The compacted earth walls give the project its defining material character. Traditional in origin but contemporary in expression, rammed earth allows the winery to establish a direct relationship with the ground, the local landscape and the agricultural identity of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Beyond its visual and tactile qualities, the material contributes to the environmental performance of the building. Its thermal and acoustic properties support the stable conditions required for wine production and storage, while reinforcing the sense of continuity between architecture and site.

Water as an Organizing Element

Water circulation is one of the main drivers of the design. Cantilevered structures direct rainwater absorbed by the green roofs toward a pool in the central patio, where it is collected. Narrow slits along the patio allow excess water to drain toward the underground wine cellar and eventually into a cistern for future use.

Through natural evaporation, the collected water helps maintain the humidity level required for the proper conservation of wine throughout the year. In this way, water is not treated as a secondary technical system, but as an architectural and environmental mechanism embedded in the project.

 

 

An Underground Cellar of Light and Shadow

The wine cellar is located underground, benefiting from a more constant temperature. Its atmosphere is shaped by low levels of natural light entering through thin openings in the slab above.

These fine cuts produce sequences of shadow and light, giving the cellar depth and a sense of mystery. The visitor experience becomes immersive: architecture supports not only production and storage, but also the sensory culture of winemaking.

A Contemporary Rural Typology

Les Terres Blanches Winery proposes a contemporary interpretation of local materials and rural forms. Its rammed-earth walls, fragmented massing, green roofs and water-management strategy create a project that is both technical and atmospheric.

The winery becomes a place where production, landscape, public experience and environmental performance are brought together. Through its careful balance of old and new, visible and underground, earth and water, the project offers a grounded model for sustainable wine architecture.

A 1970s Apartment Reorganized for Contemporary Living

The project concerns the renovation of an 85 sq.m. apartment on the first floor of a 1970s residential building in Neapoli, Nikaia. The owner’s main request was to keep the intervention as limited as possible, while also creating sufficient storage space for everyday use.

The design is based on an open plan that unifies the living areas, reinforces a sense of through-space and allows natural light to spread throughout the apartment. Through a small number of precise moves, the apartment is reorganized in a way that significantly improves its daily use.

One Unified Living Area

The main intervention involved removing the partition walls that separated the living room and dining area from the corridor and kitchen. This allowed the previously divided spaces to merge into a more connected and functional layout, bringing natural light even into the corridor at the center of the plan.

The demolition revealed the main structural elements of the building, including the column at the center of the unified space and the beam that runs lengthwise through the apartment, from the entrance to the bedroom. Rather than concealing these elements, the design incorporates them into the new spatial organization.

 

 

A Bookcase as Spatial Filter

The apartment is organized into three distinct zones: the entrance and living areas; the transitional zone leading to the private rooms, including the bathroom, storage room and corridor; and the bedroom with the auxiliary room-office.

A bookcase placed beneath the beam plays a central role in the new layout. It operates as a dividing piece of furniture, separating the living areas from the private zone without fully closing them off. Its ribbed-glass back allows natural light to diffuse toward the corridor, while limiting direct visual contact and preserving privacy. The material also refers to the aesthetic character of the original 1970s apartment.

The Kitchen as a Place of Gathering

The kitchen is treated as an integral part of the open plan. It is directly connected to the dining and living areas and develops along the north-south axis, becoming a vital component of the unified living space.

A secondary island provides additional work surface while allowing the kitchen to function as a place of gathering. In this way, its role extends beyond functionality and becomes part of the apartment’s everyday social life.

 

 

Storage Through Limited Interventions

The new organization responds to the initial request for improved functionality and storage, without requiring extensive construction work. A built-in wardrobe is designed at the entrance, part of the bathroom is used to create a storage room, and the lower section of the bookcase provides additional storage.

These solutions improve everyday usability while preserving the openness and continuity of the apartment’s new living core.

Earthy Palette and 1970s References

The material and color palette is based on soft, earthy tones, combining the grey of the structural elements with warm off-white shades and natural wood. Stronger color accents appear in the kitchen and bedroom, where green dominates, and in the bathroom, where blue is introduced.

In the bedrooms, the existing flooring was preserved after maintenance, while large-format ceramic tiles were used in the unified living area, reinforcing the sense of continuity and spatial integration.

 

 

Furniture, Objects and Personal Identity

Some of the furniture was custom-designed for the apartment, while a Danish armchair from the owner’s collection, lighting fixtures, artworks and handmade decorative objects with curved forms contribute to the space’s personal identity.

Through the composition of geometric forms, natural materials and contemporary design lines, the renovation achieves a balanced coexistence between old and new. The apartment is redefined as a flexible and ergonomic living environment, with clear architectural identity and functional organization.

ek magazine is organizing an event honoring the architect Yannis Kizis (Kizi Studio) at the SNFCC on Friday, December 11, 2026, under the auspices of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture.

Yannis Kizis is a Professor Emeritus at the NTUA School of Architecture with a long-standing creative career and currently directs the architectural office Kizi Studio together with Constadis Kizis, Associate Professor at NTUA. His extensive and high-quality work includes a wide range of architectural creation (public and private buildings, modern interventions and extensions to historical buildings, restoration of monuments, etc.) and is distinguished and multi-awarded in Greece and internationally. Being one of the most important architects of his generation, he was active both in Greece and abroad, adorning the urban and suburban landscape with high-quality architectural works. His work includes buildings of various typologies and scales, as well as urban regeneration studies. The presentations of the event speakers will attempt to highlight his significant contribution to modern Greek architecture, architectural education and culture.

The event speakers are:

– Panayotis Tournikiotis, Professor Emeritus NTUA, President of HIA

– Panayotis Tsakopoulos, Architect NTUA, researcher, author

– Nelly Marda, Architect, Professor Emerita NTUA

– Dimitris Thomopoulos, Dimitris Thomopoulos Architects, Assoc. Professor AUTH

– Tilemachos Andrianopoulos, Tense Architecture Network, Assoc. Professor NTUA

– Panagiotis Grammatopoulos, G-P Architects

– Manolis Vournous, M+V Architects

– Nikos Vatopoulos, Journalist, author

– Yiorgis Yerolymbos, Photographer, architect NTUA

– Costandis Kizis, Kizi Studio, Assoc. Professor NTUA

 

• Bronze Sponsor: LG Electronics
• Sponsors: Alumil 
• Supporters: Domiki Papanikolaou, Koligas Wood Essence

A Global Resort Rooted in Place

Mandarin Oriental, Costa Navarino is a luxury destination resort that upholds the standards of a global hospitality brand while remaining deeply rooted in its context. Set above the bay of Navarino in Messinia, Greece, the resort balances large scale with an intimate experience, luxury with restraint, and high-end amenities with a meaningful connection to land, culture and environment.

The project engages with a site of historical significance, ecological value and powerful natural beauty. Rather than treating the resort as an object placed in the landscape, the design develops a system of habitation, hospitality and environmental adaptation.

A Masterplan Inspired by Rural Typologies

The masterplan draws inspiration from Greek rural typologies, particularly the mandria: organic stone enclosures that adapt to the terrain and organize sloping land with quiet pragmatism.

This strategy is applied at a larger scale, organizing the resort’s different building units along the contours of the hillside. The 48 earth-sheltered villas are arranged in stepped, undulating rows, ensuring uninterrupted panoramic views from every unit and creating successive horizons across the site.

Most villas are organized in pairs, with only two visible sides that disappear into the ground and independent entrances naturally separated by planted slopes. In this way, the architecture develops as an extension of the hillside, rather than imposing itself upon it.

 

 

Privacy, Autonomy and Semi-Outdoor Living

The dispersed organization of the resort enhances the guest experience in several ways. Each villa enjoys privacy, autonomy and surrounding gardens, while the relationship between interior and exterior is structured through a sequence of transitions.

Interiors flow smoothly into shaded semi-outdoor living areas. Wide overhangs, deep-set openings and filtered views create a sense of calm and refuge, while maintaining contact with the broader landscape.

Restraint, Luxury and Material Presence

The resort combines restraint with richness. Stone and terrazzo are used in tactile, understated ways, while the interiors refer to Mediterranean textures and tones. Curated international details evoke the spirit of travel without distancing the experience from the place itself.

Space planning is intuitive and guest-centered, ensuring clear orientation, comfortable scale and carefully framed views. Circulation takes place outdoors wherever possible, allowing nature to remain a continuous presence throughout the resort.

 

 

Operational Foresight and Flexible Management

The resort also demonstrates operational foresight. Its layout supports scalable operation, as clusters of rooms or villas can be brought into or out of use seasonally, optimizing energy consumption.

Open-air circulation reduces the need for cooled corridors, while semi-protected spaces such as covered terraces and entry courtyards temper climate extremes, reducing mechanical loads and improving guest comfort.

A Contemporary Hybrid Typology

Creatively, the project avoids spectacle in favor of serenity. It does not mimic history, but listens to it. Traditional forms are abstracted rather than replicated, and reinterpreted through contemporary materials and construction methods.

The result is a unique hybrid typology, where the aesthetic of the “village” is not reproduced literally, but translated into a contemporary hospitality system. Architecture preserves local memory without becoming trapped in imitation.

 

 

Passive Strategies and Ecological Ambition

Sustainability guided every decision. Passive strategies include planted roofs, thermal mass and cross-ventilated spaces. Materials were sourced locally whenever possible.

Water-efficient landscaping, low-impact lighting and energy zoning further reinforce the ecological ambition of the project, aligning guest comfort with a lower environmental footprint.

A New Model for Hospitality

Mandarin Oriental, Costa Navarino offers a new model of resort-making: one that privileges relationship over image, groundedness over excess.

It demonstrates that a resort can be both luxurious and low-impact, international and deeply local — a place where architecture, landscape and guest comfort coexist in elegant alignment.

Heat Pump Solutions for European Homes

LG Electronics is strengthening its position in the European residential heat pump market with a diverse portfolio of high-performance solutions adapted to different housing environments.

As demand continues to grow across Europe for energy-efficient heat pump solutions using low-GWP refrigerants, LG is expanding its market response with products designed to combine efficiency, ease of installation and integration into contemporary homes and large-scale residential projects.

 

Therma V R290 Monobloc

One of the key products in the portfolio is Therma V R290 Monobloc, an outdoor air-to-water heat pump unit that uses R290 refrigerant with very low Global Warming Potential.

The unit is designed to provide reliable heating in outdoor temperatures as low as -28°C and can supply domestic hot water up to 75°C. Its monobloc design allows the unit to operate independently, without the need to install components inside the home, making installation easier and faster.

 

 

Multi V i and Multi V S

LG also offers Multi V i and Multi V S as part of its VRF range. Multi V i combines low-GWP R32 refrigerant with a high-efficiency inverter compressor and advanced smart control for efficient operation.

It also includes safety features, such as sensors that activate protection systems when refrigerant leakage is detected, helping maintain operational continuity and safety.

Multi V S is a compact VRF solution offering flexible system integration, energy management capabilities, smart controls and a user-friendly management interface. When combined with indoor units incorporating a domestic hot water tank and the necessary hydraulic components, it can operate as an all-in-one solution for air conditioning, heating and domestic hot water production.

 

Award-Winning Indoor Units

LG recently introduced new indoor units for air-to-water heat pump systems: Combi Unit, Hydro Unit and Control Unit.

The units received the iF Design Award 2026 and Red Dot Design Award 2026, recognizing their integrated design and ease of use. These distinctions reinforce LG’s position in a market where technical performance must be combined with clear design, usability and simple day-to-day management.

 

 

Customized Solutions for Large Residential Projects

LG continues to secure major residential project wins across Europe, supported by the competitiveness of its products and its engineering capabilities.

In Spain, LG supplied Multi V i and indoor units for approximately 1,000 residential units at Calle Fuerzas Armadas, a build-to-rent residential development. From the early stages of the project, LG worked with local partners to review design, certification and installation requirements, providing support aligned with European environmental regulations and site-specific conditions.

 

Residential Projects in Serbia

In Belgrade, LG supplied a customized solution for King’s Circle Residences, combining Multi V S with indoor units that produce cold and hot water. The integrated configuration enables energy monitoring per unit and brings cooling, heating and domestic hot water supply into a single system.

LG also supplied Multi V i, Multi V S and residential air conditioners to The One Residences in Belgrade, working with design teams to propose a heating and cooling system suited to the building structure and installation conditions. Simulation-based technical assessments were also carried out to verify operational stability and installation suitability.

 

 

Energy Efficiency and Ease of Installation

According to James Lee, president of LG ES Company, the European residential heat pump market continues to evolve, with growing demand for solutions that are energy-efficient, environmentally responsible and easy to install.

Through its diversified heat pump portfolio and engineering capabilities, LG aims to respond to the real needs of each space, strengthening its position in the European market and offering integrated solutions for contemporary residential environments.

 

LG Business Solutions Greece

A Compact Cabin Between Forest and River

Located in Plain, Washington, on the edge of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Wenatchee River Cabin by Wittman Estes was conceived as a small retreat for outdoor life. The client had owned the nearly half-acre property for years, using it as a base camp for adventures in the surrounding landscape. After a decade of camping on site, often with friends, he decided to build a cabin that would keep the focus on the forest and the river.

The project began as a weekend retreat, but its use changed during the design and construction process. As remote work became part of everyday life, the owner started spending more time on the property and eventually chose to live there full-time once the cabin was complete.

Living Small, Living Well

With a footprint of 746 sq ft, the one-bedroom cabin is deliberately modest. Its compactness reflects both site constraints and a desire for a simpler way of living, where everyday life is shaped less by possessions and more by experience.

The owner’s direct involvement in construction was central to the project. This reinforced the need for a clear and minimal design, built with durable materials and simple architectural moves. Concrete, steel, cedar and restrained interior finishes give the cabin a sense of permanence while allowing nature, light and artwork to remain the dominant presence.

 

 

Elevated Above the Floodplain

Because the cabin sits within the river’s floodplain, the main living level is raised 10 ft above the ground on six concrete columns. This resilient strategy protects the home from seasonal flooding while minimizing its footprint on the site.

The elevated volume also creates a covered ground-level space beneath the cabin. This area functions as sheltered parking and a working space where the owner can maintain his vintage Bronco, protected from rain and snow. In this way, the floodplain constraint becomes part of the daily use and character of the building.

Three Levels and One Large Window Wall

The cabin is organized across three levels. The ground level provides the covered parking and work area; the middle level contains the main living, dining and kitchen space, along with a full bathroom; and the top level includes the bedroom, office, half-bathroom and a loft opening onto a cantilevered steel deck.

A single window wall, 20 ft wide and 24 ft high, directs the main views toward the Wenatchee River while screening neighboring properties. In the bedroom, a view portal looks across the living room and toward the river beyond, creating a vertical connection through the compact interior.

 

 

Owner-Built Steel Elements

The cabin’s material character is closely connected to the owner’s skills. A lifelong metalworker, he fabricated several elements himself, including the raw steel kitchen countertops and backsplash, the hemlock and steel dining table, and the tube-steel guardrails with expanded metal mesh infill.

These elements give the interior a direct, handmade quality. They also reinforce the logic of the cabin as a durable structure shaped by personal labor, weather and long-term use.

A Minimal Interior for Nature, Light and Artwork

The main living space is organized beneath a fir-framed loft, with a wood-burning fireplace creating a compact center of warmth. The interior finishes remain deliberately simple, forming a quiet background for the surrounding landscape, the changing light and the owner’s artwork.

Sustainability is approached through compactness, durability and efficient systems. The cabin uses an air-source heat pump for heating and cooling, with the wood-burning stove serving as the primary heat source. Locally sourced cedar siding and soffits further connect the building to the material culture of the region.

 

 

A Weekend Cabin Turned Full-Time Home

What began as a one-bedroom weekend cabin has become an everyday residence. Its modest scale, elevated structure and durable material palette support a form of living that remains close to the river, the forest and the changing conditions of the Pacific Northwest.

Wenatchee River Cabin shows how small architecture can produce a larger relationship with the world outside. It is a home shaped by restraint, resilience and the quiet ambition to live with less, but more directly.

A 1970s Apartment Reworked for Contemporary Living

Located in a prominent 1970s building in the city of Ioannina, Thalen Apt by Pantazi5 Architects is a 74 sq.m. apartment renovation designed for a sociable couple. The project brings together childhood memories, the existing character of the apartment and a forward-looking approach to everyday domestic life.

Rather than erasing the memory of the original space, the redesign acts as a bridge between what the apartment already carried and the future patterns of living it now needs to support. The result is a compact interior that combines hospitality, practicality and carefully controlled material contrasts.

One Intervention, One New Living Core

The project focuses on the apartment’s living areas. A single change to the existing plan allows previously separated rooms to merge into a more connected and functional layout, creating an extended naturally lit space that becomes the center of the home.

This new living core accommodates everyday use, gatherings and flexible domestic routines. It is organized not through rigid partitions, but through material definition, visual continuity and a clear relationship between open, transparent and enclosed zones.

 

 

Open, Glass and Wooden Areas

The unified space is visually divided into three distinct areas: the open area, the glass area and the wooden area. These correspond respectively to the living room, the kitchen and the service zone, which includes storage and a WC.

Although strongly differentiated in tone and texture, the three areas flow into one another. Existing uses, such as the dining area within the kitchen and the arrangement of the living room, are preserved and reworked, while new functions are introduced to support the apartment’s more practical and hospitable character.

Green Marble and a Parametric Mirror Installation

The open area forms the main living space of the apartment. Closely connected to the kitchen, it also provides access toward the private areas through the service zone.

Clad with green marble flooring, the bright living room includes furniture made from reused materials of the existing apartment. A parametrically designed mirror installation becomes the space’s most distinctive intervention, framing specific views toward the neighboring neo-Byzantine monument of the Zosimaia Educational Academy.

 

 

The Kitchen as a Transparent Room

The kitchen is part of the same unified living area, but it is defined through a glass screen that maintains visual contact and interaction between the two zones. Transparent and opaque cupboards form a flexible arrangement that supports both cooking and dining.

Black granite worktops give the kitchen a strong material presence, while light grey tiles and black steel shelving complete the palette. The shelving adds a sculptural quality to the room, while also functioning as storage.

Iroko Wood and the Introverted Service Zone

Next to the transparent kitchen area, the wooden zone is the most introverted part of the apartment. Finished with upcycled iroko wood from the original apartment, it accommodates storage and a WC, while also mediating access to the private rooms.

Through this compact service core, the renovation adds functionality without fragmenting the new living area. Thalen Apt therefore becomes a careful study in how a small apartment can be reorganized through one precise spatial move, turning existing materials, memory and contemporary use into a coherent domestic environment.

A House Built Around Emptiness

In Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico, Kehai House by HW Studio is a small residence of 95 sq.m., designed by architect Rogelio Vallejo Bores as his own home. The project is described as “the architect’s house”: a house in which someone used to giving form to the dreams of others turns inward, asking how architecture can become coherent with a way of living.

The house was shaped by a limited budget, but also by a long personal path toward Zen, the Dharma and Japan. Its deepest idea is not the production of an object, but the creation of a void: a central emptiness capable of containing life, movement, silence and thought.

A Closed Box That Holds a Garden

From the outside, the house appears as a quiet, closed box in the urban landscape. Its almost hermetic presence does not reveal much of what takes place inside. Once the threshold is crossed, however, the apparent closure is understood differently: the box does not isolate, but protects.

At its center lies a stone garden. It is not touched directly, yet it defines the entire house. Like the stone gardens of Kyoto, its stones are not arranged to represent something, but to evoke a state of attention. On the bed of grey gravel, two wooden platforms float as places of pause: not simply floors, but surfaces for stopping, looking and being.

 

 

The Garden as Spatial Order

The garden is not decorative. It organizes the house. Around it, the domestic spaces are arranged like satellites orbiting stillness, each one maintaining a distinct role while remaining connected to the central void.

On one side, the kitchen and dining area unfold in a double-height space. Above them, a volume gathers the smoke from the fire, introducing both memory and practical resilience: the possibility that one day the city may not provide everything needed. On the other side, the living room becomes a space of contemplation, where large stones rest like islands in a quiet sea.

A House That Reconciles with Rain

There is no covered corridor between the living room and the dining area. To move from one to the other when it rains, one either gets wet or waits for the rain to pass. This decision gives the house its most radical everyday lesson: architecture here does not protect from the world, but reconciles the inhabitant with it.

The home does not attempt to neutralize weather, time or discomfort. Instead, it allows them to enter life gently, turning movement through the house into a conscious act.

 

 

Shōji, Light and Shadow

The shōji doors, made with rice paper, are not treated as an aesthetic reference alone. They operate as the real filter between interior and exterior. Light, passing through them, loses its hardness and becomes softer, slower and more atmospheric.

In this house, shadow is not simply the absence of light. It becomes light’s most delicate expression. Daylight does not enter abruptly; it settles, creating an interior defined by quiet transitions rather than visual excess.

Three Windows and an Interior Life

The program is austere. There are no unnecessary corridors and no grand gestures. The house is almost entirely without glass, opening only through three small windows toward what is considered truly worth seeing: a mountain, a neighboring pine and the tree planted at the center of the garden.

The bedroom is placed above, as a minimal and intimate space. A single circular window opens to the foliage of the central tree. It becomes an eye of the house, a point of contemplation rather than display.

 

 

Entering by Descending

The entrance does not rise; it descends. One enters by going down, as if bowing before something sacred. The staircase reaches the point where the stone offered structural stability, reducing unnecessary foundation costs, but the gesture is also spiritual.

To inhabit this house, one must leave a certain pride outside and enter with humility. Like passing through the torii of an invisible shrine, the act of entry becomes a quiet ritual.

Silence as Architecture

In Japanese thought, value is often found in the imperfect, the incomplete and the ephemeral. Kehai House follows this sensibility. It was not designed to impress, but to endure in silence.

Through limited means, careful spatial decisions and a central void that orders domestic life, the house becomes a meditation on how little architecture needs in order to become meaningful. It holds the light weight of an honest life.

A Museum Between Memory and New Identity

In Vila do Bispo, Portugal, Vila do Bispo Museum by spaceworkers is conceived as an intervention that preserves the identity of the place while giving the existing building a new civic role. The project works with the character of the original construction, not by erasing it, but by extending and clarifying its presence.

The design proposes the addition of a new volume to the existing structure, echoing the form of the adjacent naves. This gesture creates urban and formal continuity, while allowing the new addition to establish its own identity as the main entrance to the museum.

A Red Volume Completing the Existing Building

The new volume extends to the southern limit of the plot and accommodates the technical, administrative and social functions of the museum. By concentrating these uses in the addition, the project frees the inner core of the existing warehouses to receive the exhibition areas.

This redistribution of program allows the exhibition to become the central function of the intervention. The museum is therefore organized through a clear distinction between support spaces and public cultural space, while the new red volume gives the ensemble a recognizable presence.

 

 

Neutral Exterior, Black Interior

The two pre-existing naves, with approximately 680 sq.m. of covered area, are treated in a neutral grey tone. This chromatic strategy homogenizes the existing construction and reinforces its formal abstraction.

Inside, the same warehouse volume is lined in black, creating a controlled background for the exhibition. Against this dark interior, a dynamic organic form organizes the display route, creating thematic exhibition pockets and guiding visitors through the museum in a clear and intuitive way.

Red Exposed Concrete as Urban Marker

In contrast to the chromatic abstraction of the existing structure, the new volume is built in exposed concrete with red pigmentation. Its material presence turns it into a point of reference in the urban and aerial landscape, marking the territory with clarity.

The addition acts as a formal completion of the existing building. It recreates its geometry in a delicate way, through a balance of solids and voids that organizes entrances, areas of pause and the relationship with the surrounding landscape.

 

 

A Museum That Feels Already Familiar

The result is a museum that appears as if it has always belonged to the place. For older generations, it evokes the memory of the former granaries; for younger generations, it becomes the “red museum”, a new image in the collective memory of the community.

Through this balance between preservation and transformation, Vila do Bispo Museum establishes a dialogue between continuity and new identity. It is both a careful architectural intervention and a public landmark capable of anchoring itself in the everyday image of the town.

An Office Rooted in the Everyday Landscape

Located in Hashima City, in Japan’s Gifu Prefecture, Office in Hashima by Permanent and Atelier Nagara Architectural Design Office is a new headquarters for a company active in civil engineering and real estate. Set within a calm rural landscape of rice fields, the building was designed to be rooted in the local community and appreciated over time.

The project begins with the quiet value of the ordinary. The seasonal path of the sun, the movement of rice grasses in the wind, and the ripples forming on the water of the fields during rain are treated not as background scenery, but as the material of the architectural experience.

Architecture as a Device for Noticing

Rather than simply blending the building into its surroundings, the architects conceived it as an architectural “device” that makes people more aware of the landscape. Its role is not to disappear, but to sharpen perception: to bring light, wind, rain and seasonal change into focus through the presence of the building itself.

This approach is especially appropriate for a company closely connected to land, infrastructure and construction. The office becomes a place where work, community and landscape are not separated but drawn into a continuous everyday relationship.

 

 

A Roof That Frames Natural Phenomena

The roof is the building’s defining feature. Rising dramatically toward the east, it cuts a bold profile against the sky, while its eaves descend close to the ground. This strong gesture gives the building a recognizable silhouette without overwhelming the rural scale of the site.

A gentle undulation in the roofline introduces a subtle irregularity. Reflected light, the color of the sky and the movement of raindrops are brought into focus, allowing natural phenomena to become part of the architectural expression. The roof does not simply cover the building; it registers the changing conditions of the place.

Intermediate Spaces Beneath the Eaves

Inside, spatial organization is designed to remain closely connected with the exterior. Beneath the raised roof, the entrance and meeting rooms occupy a tall space that naturally draws the outside inward.

Courtyards and verandas are placed under the undulating roof, creating intermediate spaces between interior and exterior. These zones soften the transition from work environment to landscape, offering places for movement, pause and informal encounter.

 

 

Margins, Gardens and Interior Continuity

Throughout the building and the site, small margins and resting places are carefully arranged. Stones and greenery are introduced into the interiors, producing a sense of continuity with nature even while indoors.

The result is a flexible work environment that supports meetings, breaks and moments of observation. The office is not defined only by productivity, but also by the possibility of noticing seasonal change, light, rain and wind as part of daily working life.

Light, Wind and the Southern Openings

On the south side, large openings are combined with low eaves, balancing solar control with an intimate relationship to the garden. The building does not rely on a hard boundary between inside and outside. Instead, wind, light and other natural elements are softly drawn into the interior.

Through this calibrated relationship, the office creates a new everyday scenery for the people who work there, the local community and first-time visitors. It gives form to a quiet ambition: to make the familiar landscape visible again.

Investing in Training and Professional Solutions

LG Electronics presented the fully renewed facilities of the LG B2B Academy, reaffirming the strategic commitment of LG Business Solutions to training, technological innovation and the development of integrated professional solutions. The presentation took place in Athens on 24 June 2026, highlighting LG’s role as a partner for professionals, installers, businesses and organizations seeking high-performance technologies for contemporary applications.

 

LG’s B2B Vision for 2030

During the event, LG presented the strategic goals of its Business Solutions division through 2030. These include doubling sales compared to 2026, increasing the partner network by 40%, and generating service revenues corresponding to 20% of total turnover in collaboration with certified installers. This strategy places training, technical support and the continued development of LG’s partner network at the center of the future growth of LG Business Solutions.

 

 

An Integrated Portfolio of Solutions

LG also presented its complete portfolio of professional solutions, covering air conditioning, ventilation, heating and domestic hot water production, as well as hospitality TVs, Signage, LED and IT display solutions. Among the solutions presented were Multi V systems, Therma V R290 Monobloc heat pumps, Inverter Scroll Chillers, and LG’s integrated control and management solutions.

 

Technologies for Professional Environments

Visitors also showed strong interest in ARTCOOL air conditioners with AI technology, the LG E-Paper display for energy-efficient digital signage, hospitality TVs with AirPlay and Google Cast support, and innovative Gaming Monitors. Guests were also able to tour LG’s new B2B showroom and experience technologies and applications already widely implemented in professional environments in Greece and Cyprus.

 

 

LG All Stars and Technical Support Ecosystem

Special emphasis was placed on LG All Stars, LG’s rewards platform that supports the network of air conditioning and heating installers while promoting collaboration and technical support. The company also presented its extended support ecosystem, which includes a specialized B2B Call Center, a 24-hour service line, remote diagnostic tools, more than 40,000 technical consulting supports per year, and a nationwide network of authorized partners and service centers. Today, LG Business Solutions has a network of more than 600 certified partners in Greece and Cyprus.

 

Knowledge, Experience and Sustainability

The presentation also referred to LG’s participation in the “Exoikonomo” and “Allazo Systima Thermansis” programs, contributing to the energy upgrading of residential and professional buildings.

 

 

Giannis Mantas, Commercial Director of LG Business Solutions, noted that the renewal of the LG B2B Academy and the creation of the new showroom represent an investment in knowledge and experience, with the aim of creating a training environment that highlights innovation and sustainability. Through the renewed LG B2B Academy, LG Business Solutions strengthens its position in the professional applications market, offering partners not only advanced technological solutions, but also access to a contemporary environment for training, demonstration and technical specialization.

 

LG Business Solutions Greece

 

 

In the peri-urban area of Limassol, the residence is organized through two shifted rectangular volumes, creating a cross-ventilated core for semi-outdoor living. This intermediate space works as a filter between interior and exterior, reinforcing the continuity of everyday life. On the upper floor, the private areas are protected by deep projections that integrate planting. This gesture contributes to passive solar protection, while softening the exposed concrete mass and establishing a more nuanced threshold between the building, natural light and the surrounding environment.

 

 

 

At MGO Protopapas I in Limassol, the office building’s façade develops through folded surfaces and parametrically designed vertical elements. Its dynamic form follows the movement of the road, turning the façade into a field of shifting geometries. On the southern side, the aluminium frames are recessed from the building line, while semi-outdoor terraces of varying sizes unfold in front of them. Together with the vertical fins, these terraces provide shade to the office interiors during the summer months, integrating environmental performance into the overall architectural expression.

 

 

04. Aegean Color Rooms | The Hive Architects

 

 

In Naousa, Paros, Aegean Color Rooms redesigns a small hospitality building through clear geometry and a renewed visual identity. The central design idea is the integration of perforated linear canopies, which filter natural light and frame views toward the sea. These structures offer shade and protection, while acting as transitional elements between the rooms and their outdoor spaces. The balconies become small private oases, where shading, color and water come together to create a calm hospitality experience.

 

 

05. Villa Ypsilon | Lassa Architects

ek Issue: 217 | May 2017

 

 

In the southern Peloponnese, Villa Ypsilon is set on a hillside olive grove and defined by its Y-shaped green roof, which functions as an extension of the garden. Circulation around and over the roof creates a continuous promenade, defining three ground-level courtyards with different uses. The roof was specifically oriented to shade the courtyards at selected times of the day. At the same time, a perforated wall protects the interior from the afternoon sun, while allowing cross-ventilation and natural cooling during the evening.

 

 

On a sloping site in Limassol, the House in Kefalokremmos follows the topography and is organized as a refuge in direct dialogue with the natural terrain and sea views. Its stepped layout allows interior and exterior spaces to flow smoothly into one another.

Carefully positioned stoas and semi-outdoor areas act as filters against sun and wind. Shading is therefore not limited to isolated construction elements; it becomes part of the spatial organization of the house, offering comfort, calmness and gradations of privacy.

 

At Ogarden, an existing office building is transformed into a mixed-use project combining office spaces and boutique short-stay apartments. The project’s defining new architectural feature is a system of vertical exterior louvers, made of white concrete with marble chips from Naxos and Tinos. These fixed louvers wrap the building as a second skin, providing shade and privacy. Their different angles create a wave-like effect on the façade, while light and shadow constantly transform the building’s appearance. Horizontal aluminium shading systems at ground level and on the planted roof complete the solar protection strategy.

 

 

 

In Maroussi, Terra Form House creates an architectural microclimate within the dense urban fabric. The residence redefines basic architectural elements, such as the roof, garden, threshold and windows, in order to form a protected inner and outer world. The traditional pitched roof is transformed into a two-sided perforated canopy, extending beyond the enclosed volume of the house and embracing the outdoor spaces. It provides shade and privacy, unifying the gardens and living areas under a single protective structure.

 

 

In Kalyviani, Chania, Corte Interna restores a complex of three stone buildings arranged around an internal courtyard. The intervention preserves the character of the existing ensemble, while introducing contemporary metal elements, natural materials and fluid forms that contrast with the solidity of stone. In the raised courtyard, sliding fabric awnings on tensile steel cables provide shade and create a gathering space. This simple construction is organically integrated into the whole, combining the atmosphere of a traditional material with the clarity of a contemporary addition.

A House Organized Around the Pool

In Caesarea, Israel, architect Raz Melamed has designed E30 – House in Caesarea as a family residence where the swimming pool becomes the spatial and visual center of the project. Rather than treating the pool as an addition to the house, the design reverses the usual hierarchy: the residence is organized around it, allowing the outdoor leisure space to define the rhythm of domestic life.

The project was commissioned by a couple in their 50s as a weekend retreat for hosting their children and grandchildren. Over time, the brief evolved into a full-time residence, with multiple bedroom suites, generous communal areas and a strong emphasis on the relationship between interior, garden and pool.

A Continuous Black Steel Beam

The defining architectural element of the house is an exposed black steel beam, 44 cm in height. Instead of being concealed, the beam is expressed as a continuous line that organizes the plan, divides levels and frames the main public spaces.

Inside, the beam extends as a bridge, connecting the staircase to the bedroom wing. In the double-height living area, it cuts horizontally across the glazed façade, preserving open views toward the sky while reinforcing the linear geometry of the house. Toward the garden, the same element continues outward, supporting a cantilevered pergola that shades the outdoor seating area without columns and keeps the view toward the pool unobstructed.

 

 

Street Façade and Filtered Privacy

The entrance façade is composed of white plaster surfaces, articulated with horizontal joints and vertical wooden slats. The contrast between the white volume and the dark wood gives the house a restrained but clearly defined street presence.

The wooden elements also have a functional role. They conceal the staircase from the outside while allowing natural ventilation, creating a façade that works simultaneously as screen, threshold and environmental device.

Double-Height Communal Space

The main public areas are arranged as a sequence of dining and living spaces beneath a double-height ceiling. The open plan is defined by the black steel beam above, the large glazed openings toward the garden and a restrained material palette of wood, black metal and neutral tones.

Lighting is treated in layers. Suspended linear fixtures respond to the height of the space, while recessed spotlights support everyday functionality. Together, they give scale and clarity to the large interior volume.

 

 

Kitchen as a Tall Wooden Plane

The kitchen is organized in a parallel layout, with a large island and white Corian worktops. Behind it, a tall wooden façade conceals storage and mechanical systems, rising to the full height of the double-height space.

This wooden plane intersects with the black steel beam, turning a functional wall into one of the central visual elements of the interior. The kitchen therefore operates not only as a place of preparation, but also as part of the architectural composition of the public zone.

Suites, Basement and Upper Floor

The ground-floor master suite opens directly toward the swimming pool and is finished with parquet flooring. Its bathroom combines travertine surfaces with black granite walls, black fittings and white Corian elements, continuing the project’s controlled palette of light surfaces, dark accents and natural stone.

Additional bedrooms and leisure spaces are located in the basement and on the upper floor. A home cinema and games room extend the family program, while floating black steel stairs and a glass-railed bridge connect the different levels, maintaining visual continuity across the interior.

 

 

Garden, Travertine and Outdoor Living

The outdoor areas include multiple seating zones, an open-air kitchen and a swimming pool clad in travertine, aligned flush with the garden level. The same travertine flooring continues from the interior to the exterior, strengthening the connection between the living spaces and the garden.

Landscaping remains minimal, allowing the pool, pergola and structural line of the house to dominate the site. The result is a residence where the architecture does not simply frame outdoor life, but is shaped by it.