Monday, November 16, 2009

Wide Open Villa | KLab | Architecture


The monolithic volume is shaped by two parameters: the street, whose curve it follows, and the private garden, which imparts a planar quality to the side in question. From the outside, the building has an austere, almost monumental character.


The same language of monumentality has been transferred to the interior where large open spaces meet dominating volumes and white clinical surfaces. The most imposing feature of the house is located in the main living room, a grand stone-clad fireplace that connects both in spatial and visual terms the interior with the exterior. Additionally, the double-height space of the living room is flooded by light as a fully glazed wall provides unrestraint view of the main garden and the swimming pool.



Throughout the house the spaces are characterized by straight lines and orthogonal shapes, this is interrupted by the gentle arc of the staircase that leads to the upper floor where the bedrooms are located.


Furthermore, the villa hides a space of tranquility underground, an indoor swimming pool and a sauna occupy this lower lever and there only means of natural light is a west facing skylight that poors light into the room. Concealed lights in the ceiling ,a backlit translutent wall and the reflections provided by the water add to the serene atmosphere of the space.


Natural light plays an important role in the design of the villa, in the upper level of the house rooflights allow light to enter into corridors and bathrooms creating the appearance of larger spaces. The master bathroom is no exemption, a more playful touch has been introduced, a green glass shower partition, that gives a unique character to the space when the light passes through this green filter.


Where most of the spaces that form the interior of the villa are of grandeur scale the kitchen is designed to meet the needs of a modern family, where both the practicalities and the intimate moments can be accommodated. The dining area overlooks a small private garden that is screened by a line of cypress trees, a large island unit that is situated in the middle of the kitchen deals with the daily activities of a busy household.

Architects: KLab architecture
Location: Ekali, Athens, Greece
Project Area: 1,050 sqm
Project year: 2006-2009
Photographs: KLab architecture

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