A small exotic paradise, an L-shaped form modern home in Athens designed by Moustroufis Architects

Architects: Moustroufis Architects
Location: Athens, Greece
Year: 2016
Photo courtesy: Panagiotis Voumvakis
Description:

“The house was designed to meet the needs of a family of four. Desire of the owners was to accommodate their daily functional needs as well as their need for hosting and entertaining guests.

The plot was flat and approximately one floor higher than the street level. The plan arrangement is an L-shaped form, which embraces the garden area at the back of the house.

The house on the street facade as well as on the two side facades is more protective and with smaller openings, while the garden facades are distinguished by large openings which allow the interior of the house to blend in with the outside areas.

The main feature of the ground floor is a covered area which is open to both sides and gives you shelter from the elements of sun, wind and rain.

The dominating characteristic of the composition of the ground floor space is the fluidity of the boundaries among the rooms.On the ground floor are all the main communal spaces: the tv room and living room with fireplace in direct contact with the garden, connected to the formal dining room and breakfast room which open in the large covered area used as a summer living room.

The areas of the first floor, whose nature is more private, have clearer boundaries between them. In one wing, are four children bedrooms with their bathrooms, while on the other , are the master areas. The family room- office space and television for the whole family – lie exactly in the junction between those two wings.

In the basement level , which is partly open to a lower garden are situated guestrooms with bathrooms with independent entrance, and a playroom, followed by a gym , a cellar as well as the service quarters.

The second basement consists of the parking area and storage of the house.

The materials used are plaster, marble and wood. The house “rests” on a marble base of the basement and the main body of the building is white plaster, with the recessed areas painted darker.

Finally, the water elements and the garden with the typical tropical planting – which reflects the owners’ close relationship with the Latin America- transfers the inhabitants of the house in a small exotic paradise.”