MYKONOS GRACE
description: refurbishment and upgrading of an existing hotel, in Mykonos, Greece
capacity: 32 rooms
design+construction: 2006-7
In collaboration with DZA and Divercity architects
design team: Dionisis Zacharias, Alexandra Stratou, Giorgos Skitsas
Received first prize in the European Hotel Design Awards, 2007
The project is a refurbishment of an existing concrete frame collage structure escalating various levels. Upgrading the circulation and both rooms and public spaces was the main concern. Spatial quality meant that comfort was the measure for all decisions, even as this meant the merging of several of the rooms or the shrinking of an already small swimming pool in favor of usable space around it. The external envelope could not be altered, therefore Landscaping, shading, outdoor private Jacuzzis, were used to redesign the massing of the building in relationship to the rocky hill, so as to make it appear to be growing out of the landscape, following the traditional Mykonos vernacular.
photography: Cathy Cunliffe