Lycabettus apartment
Residential, Renovation - Athens, Greece
2023 - 2024
Client: Private commission
Architectural project photos: Alina Lefa
Model photos: Oikonomakis Siampakoulis architects
Phase: Built
Located in the Lycabettus area of Athens, this 85 sqm ground-floor residence is conceived as a precise and highly tailored intervention for a pair of art curators whose lives unfold between Athens and London. The project responds to a rigorous and articulate brief, translating the clients’ curatorial sensibility into a spatial composition defined by clarity, continuity, and material depth.
The design strategy begins with a decisive architectural gesture: the removal of the apartment’s longitudinal partition wall. This intervention dissolves the rigidity of the original layout, consolidating the entrance, living, dining, and kitchen areas into a unified, fluid environment. Rather than eliminating circulation, the corridor is reinterpreted - absorbed into the living space as a subtle, continuous movement sequence that enhances spatial coherence.
Natural light is treated as a primary design medium. Carefully positioned internal transom openings extend daylight into the deeper zones of the apartment, improving both atmosphere and functionality. A discreet glazed opening introduces light into the bathroom, while a second, timber-framed transom channels light from the bedroom into the entrance area - establishing visual connections while maintaining privacy.
Materiality is approached with a curatorial precision. Existing marble, and terrazzo flooring are meticulously restored, preserving the apartment’s embedded character. These surfaces are complemented by new, finely detailed insertions of Volakas marble, which articulate the living and dining areas with a subtle yet deliberate geometric presence. The dialogue between old and new is calibrated to achieve continuity rather than contrast.
At the heart of the apartment, the kitchen is conceived as both functional workspace and social nucleus. An L-shaped island establishes a direct relationship between cooking and living, enabling simultaneous activities to unfold within a compact yet highly efficient footprint. This element supports the clients’ daily rituals, allowing preparation, work, and interaction to coexist seamlessly within a single spatial framework.
The project ultimately defines a domestic environment that is both restrained and expressive - where architectural intervention is measured, materiality is intentional, and everyday life is elevated through precision and spatial intelligence.
Publications
Design Milk (EN)
designboom (EN)
Architizer (EN)
Yellowtrace (EN)
The [Radical] Project (EN)
The Greek Foundation (EN)
Formed (EN)
urdesign (EN)
Media
Elle Decor Italia (IT)
iefimerida (GR)
GLOW (GR)