Responding to the sloping coastline of the Greek island of Skiathos via form and elevation, Achladies House is a modern evolution of Mediterranean architecture and Greek craftsmanship. Conceived as a summer holiday home, architect Lydia Xynogala created three volumes – a master suite, communal area and guest house – built using solid retaining walls, used typically across the region.
Take an interactive tour of Achladies House
The shape of the architecture follows the natural topography of the site, with the parallel volumes varying in elevations in response to the landscape, and south-facing rooms opening up to framed views of the Aegean. While the landscape inspired Xynogala, it also tested her: ‘It was a big challenge to juggle complex zoning requirements on an irregular trapezoidal site that is located on a steep slope,’ she says.
The plan is inclusive to visiting family members and friends. The living spaces are positioned in the central volume and sliding doors, which cut through the double concrete walls, offer the option to connect – or disconnect – the adjoining rooms. When needed, private terraces slotted into the suites allow for a moment alone with the landscape.
‘We poured small strips of the terrazzo and set them between the components of the sliding door tracks,’ says Xynogala.
Xynogala arranged built-in furniture, storage, sinks and desks along the centreline of the plan, forging them into the design of the house and working with local Greek craftsmen. ‘I really enjoyed using their traditional craft skills and transcending them into modern design,’ she says of the process.
‘I was interested to use materials that are very familiar in older Greek residential interiors such as terrazzo floors, which are present throughout the house inside and outside, as well as marble and plaster render, but using them in spaces, forms and combinations that are not so familiar.’
The solid retaining walls, typical of Mediterranean architecture, are a prominent part of the design
Entry is at the highest level of the site, where a sloping stairway leads into the house
The living areas are contained in the central volume
The bedrooms also open up to views of the Aegean
Built-in furniture designed by Xynogala is arranged along the centreline of the plan
Xynogala used materials that are familiar in older Greek residential interiors
Sinks are built into the architecture of the house
Like the architecture itself, light cuts into the interior in sheer volumes
A swimming pool follows the angles of the house towards the sea
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Lydia Xynogala Projects website
-
These vintage American motels will have you longing for the open road‘Vintage Motels’ documents how the humble roadside stopover has evolved into a design-led destination for a new generation of travellers
-
Marta de la Rica opens The Lab, a design studio turned experimental playgroundSpanish designer Marta de la Rica establishes The Lab as a space for applied design research, with a debut collection exploring how scale and gesture transform material behaviour
-
Inside Lily Allen and David Harbour's maximalist Brooklyn townhouse, now on the market for $8 millionThe former couple have listed their Billy Cotton-renovated Carroll Gardens brownstone, which has been immortalised in Allen’s new album ‘West End Girl’
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s favourite July housesFrom geometric Japanese cottages to restored modernist masterpieces, these are the best residential projects to have crossed the architecture desk this month
-
A new Athens gallery is a celebration of old and new, a stone's throw from the AcropolisNew Athens gallery Melas Martinos by Local Local is a contemporary art space, a stone's throw from the Acropolis, in the Greek capital's Monastiraki neighbourhood
-
A clifftop Rethymno house tells a story, framing views as far as the Libyan SeaThis house in the Rethymno region of Crete, designed by architects Gkotsis Serafimidou, is rich in local and natural materials – an oasis at which to disconnect
-
A retro video game is the unlikely inspiration for this island house in GreeceDesigned by ARP, this island house on Antiparos is a contemporary Cycladic home inspired by Tetris
-
A Costa Navarino house peeks out from amidst olive groves to ocean viewsThis Greek holiday residence designed by K-Studio balances timeless design principles with modernist touches
-
A breezy Greek island retreat lets the outdoors inOpen to the elements, an island retreat in Corfu by Invisible Studio was designed to suit the local climate, using metal mesh screens rather than windows
-
A Corfu house balances local vernacular and 21st-century minimalismCorfu House, a sensitive and minimalist holiday home, has been recently completed on the Greek island as a collaboration between architects Tony Wynbourne, Georgios Apostolopoulos and engineer Makis Gisdakis
-
Piraeus Tower is a Greek high-rise icon revived through sustainable strategiesThe restoration of the Piraeus Tower is completed in Greece, revealing a revived façade by local architecture studio PILA
