The concrete architecture of Greek studio Tense has been celebrated for its sculptural quality, modern forms and functional interiors that work equally well in an urban and rural context. The latest work by Tense Architecture Network (as the practice's full name is) belongs in the latter category, nestled in a hill, overlooking the green landscapes and calm, blue waters of the Euboean Gulf in central Greece.
The project is a private residence, and it has been composed as a neat arrangement of two clean, geometrical shapes – a triangle and a circle. In plan, the triangular form represents the main house, while the round one is a striking swimming pool, sitting just outside. The house is placed diagonally and towards the uppermost corner of the plot in order to make the most of its long views.
Entering from the garage and main entrance on the lower level, visitors are guided through a dramatic circular staircase to the residence's piano nobile. This contains an open plan living space and two generous bedrooms. These two ‘wings' are divided by a courtyard in the home's heart, which enhances light and connections between indoors and outdoors.
The architecture's reinforced concrete structure is treated with earthy, absorbent paint that gives the whole a certain roughness, highlighting the house also as a sculptural object placed among the Mediterranean landscape. Bronze-coloured aluminium frames on doors and windows, tinted glass and white plastered walls inside complete the project's restrained material palette.
While the house may seem more angular, the external spaces and landscaping (designed by Eleni Tsirintani) feels softer. A curved terrace straight out of the living space responds to the terrain's topographic lines and leads to the impressive swimming pool. The last brings to mind an elegantly oversized, concrete architecture version of a bird fountain, or the dramatic experimentations of 20th century Modernists.
‘The swimming pool refers to [the curved terrace and pergola above it] and is formed in a sculptural way, also from visible uncoated concrete,' says the studio's founder, Tilemachos Andrianopoulos. ‘Its circular shape works in addition to the triangular prism - freely placed into the surrounding countryside.'
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