A 200 sq. m 2-storey house with a small pool on a narrow sloping site, in an area full of pine trees.
This project is about a preliminary design for a new house (200 sq. m) for a 3-member family.
The location is a plot of land in the northwest of Athens in an area allocated and planned for future residential development in small plots of 2000 sq.m. The building activity is quite slow, so at present in this landscape with intense topography in a forest of pine trees, there are only a few scattered houses and a basic network of country roads. In the neighbouring plot there is a newly constructed house that we did not like, yet the view towards the slope is fantastic. With the prospect of a house being built on either side, and the orientation of the site, we decided to design a monolithic concrete volume open in the long axis (east-west) at both ends so that natural light comes through it in the most interesting ways throughout the year. We block the view on the (north-south) axis so as to preserve privacy from neighbours and have the main structural walls. An additional border of Cyprus trees defines the main access to the house.This is a volume with no columns and a recessed living room that projects into a strip balcony. The materials and way of building mirrors the trees and feel of the site, so we decided on planks of wood inside the house as floor, and on the visible traces of the wooden concrete casing create the textured concrete walls. We wanted this house to be an object in the woods during the day and an animated interior in the dark during the night. The glass facade on both ends has mirrored glazing, so it reflects the trees, and obstructs views inside hiding its interior activity, whereas during the night the volume disappears into the darkness and the interior is lit. The pool is an element of water which embraces the ground floor on the edge of the base of the house, and this is where the design extends to in the site.
The landscape remains completely intact, except for the narrow stepped pedestrian pathway which leads to the house on the 1st floor from the road. Sleeping rooms are placed on the ground floor so the pool is an extension of the sleeping areas for relaxation. At the back the basement extrudes into the earth to form a double storey space as playroom, and supporting facilities lit by skylights on the level of entrance and main exterior living area. The rear access to the house is a wood plank deck space which steps down to the house entrance. The main living room area becomes one with the east exterior space in an open plan type of space with a recessed lounge/couch area.
The house will be partly self sustained and bioclimatic, with solar paneling on the sloping roof, and other supporting energy saving facilities.
House 1
Preliminary design – 2006
Client: Private
Location: Ippokrateios Politeia / Kapandriti Aifidnai / Attika
Project Team:
Architect: Eleni Kostika
Assistant architects: Christina Fraktopoulou, Yiannis Vogiatzis
Civil Engineer: Yiannis Tsopanakis – Ypsilon
Mechanical Engineer: Nikolas Nakos & Partners
Construction: Yellow Constructions