+ Vlachava 6 ₂₀₁₉

In collaboration with Ioanna Voulaki Architect

Situated in central Athens, our office was engaged to undertake a feasibly study to determine the investment potential of a late 1970s office building for the client, who sought to convert it into apartments and hotel rooms. Subsequently, the property was purchased.

Our first phase of work calculated the possible combinations of apartment and hotel rooms, from which a design strategy was formulated. Aiming to do as little as possible, our planning conformed to the existing logic and structural regularity of the building, placing the larger apartments on the north of the plan, whilst dividing the street side into a series of hotel rooms that were partitioned based on the existing columns and beams.

The inclusion of two mezzanine level volumes containing apartments articulate the lobby which is compressed underneath one, whilst defining a generous double height space for the public ground level. Connections between Vlachava Street and Athinas Road to the north are made at ground, as are public functions on the fifth floor, where a bar with angled glazing gestures toward the Acropolis. These public spaces are extended to the neighbouring building - a project also being undertaken by the client, creating a series of ground and upper level connections between the two buildings, a condition unique in the Athenian context.

Architectural modifications to the building’s façade were made by the insertion of glazing and balcony elements in between the structural bays. The new glazing alleviates the modest ceiling heights, whilst the small balcony extends the rooms into the street. Existing internal voids are utilised as balconies for the rooms and apartments adjacent. Internally, cabinetry has been designed to play the role of both object and partition, and materials, including coloured mdf, were chosen to be hard-wearing and economical.