Gradual construction

The recent addition of a floor to a family home in Paleo Faliro marks the latest chapter in its history, which spans over half a century and reflects the broader narrative of residential development in modern Greece.

 

Custom Structure

After the war, the grandfather built a ground floor with artificial walls to house his new family. During the building boom of the 1960s, he expanded it into a two-storey house. This transformation hinted at the potential for an apartment building, with the staircase strategically positioned to support future expansions, while the concrete was discreetly concealed in the roof -though these plans never came to fruition.

The house was eventually passed down to the next generation, where another family grew up in the duplex. When the grandchildren started families of their own, the parents moved to the ground floor, now perfectly suited to their old age, while the third generation extended the house upward once again. Over time, the building aged, regulations evolved, and the long-delayed plans for the apartment building could no longer be postponed, as the concrete awaited its moment of realization.

 

 

Architectural interventions

 

A metal structure now forms the third and final extension of the house, crowned by an inverted folded roof that completes the story of its successive expansions. The primary goal was to create a single, open, light-filled space on the second floor to serve as the living room and kitchen for the upper residence.

Natural light was introduced into the staircase through an overhead lantern, illuminating the house’s entrance and guiding the journey to the expansive upper floor. At the top of the staircase, the folded roof opens up the view in two directions: toward the street, where a large triangular skylight offers a striking outlook, and toward the open space at the rear, seamlessly connecting the interior to the outdoors.

 

 

Structural Design

The horizontal extension was constructed with concrete walls that integrated an elevator, providing additional structural reinforcement and significantly extending the building’s lifespan. The vertical extension, on the other hand, was executed using a metal framework with lightweight, dry-structure infill. This approach aimed to minimize the load on the existing structure, ensuring that the architectural and structural solutions were perfectly aligned. The ingenuity of the civil engineer played a pivotal role in achieving this harmony.