moSAICoS

description:  renovation of a two-storey stone building in Plaka, Athens

site area: 137 m2

existing floor area: 235 m2

completed in: 2023

design team: Alexandra Stratou, Stella Konstantinidis, Iris Vassilopoulou, Vangelis Telitzidis, Vivi Arabatzaki

Ground up renovation of a two-storey stone building in the Plaka neighborhood in Athens to house a 3-bedroom residence facing a fairly quiet pedestrian street in a busy touristic area. The original building was situated within a larger property which was consequently halved and built, leaving the spaces on the ground floor poorly lit and the house deprived of any exterior space.  The structure itself had been disorganized by successive phases of repurposing and the only remaining coherent element of the façade were the 1st floor windows. The volume of the building was carefully cleared of all additions, small patios were carved out to bring light into the ground floor and a small terrace was created on the 1st floor relieving the roof of its complex geometry.  

The archaeological excavation revealed an early Roman mosaic belonging to an ancient household. The excavation created the opportunity for a basement and the mosaic was preserved as the main element of the entrance space in its found datum, framed by a 2x2 m glass floor at ground level, and juxtaposed to an intricate wooden staircase. A 70 cm stone wall divides the ground floor in 2 parts separating the entrance from the rest of the L shaped space. The decision was made to place the bedrooms in the cool fragmented spaces of the ground floor so that each could have access either to a small patio or the street view.

The staircase from the entrance leads directly to the exterior terrace on the first floor. Here, the wooden structure of the new roof was revealed, and the area defined by the window punctured exterior wall was unified to become a large open plan space housing the living and dining room. The kitchen, wc and utility room were grouped into a closed cubical enclosure that occupies a quadrant of the entire floor.

photography: George Vdokakis