restoration of house in the center of Athens

On board_in the center of Athens

This low-budget project is about a renovation of a 47t.m. apartment on the fourth floor, penthouse Exarchia divided into small spaces: bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom and a hallway.

The owner wanted an apartment functional, to receive his guests in a space modernised, comfortable and warm. Due to his profession as a naval architect the nautical touch dominates.

The first decision was to convert it into an open plan kitchen-living-bedroom. Key elements were the two volumes that invade the lining of the space. The chimney with all the electrical of the building and the chimney-skylight. To 'extinguish' the volume o the chimney, the part of the wall were the living area meets the bedroom, was covered with a wooden furniture-library with shelves and drawers specifically designed. The other part of the wall hosts metal shelves with a "naval" ladder.

The chimney-skylight was covered with cladding steel panel and the kitchen counter was made from plywood. Its extension forms a table which leg/ was specially designed from cladding steel. The counter enters the living room serving as dining table and bar. Even the openings were replaced with portholes. The pillars and beams retained the look of the apparent concrete, and the piping for the heating were external copper to add to the nautical feel.

The owner's terms were to create storage space and to have the TV everywhere: both in the living room and lying in bed. Therefore on the base of the wooden furniture-library rails were placed to allow the TV to slide from one space to the other. The library's part is constructed from plywood and the wardrobe from MDF melamine to reduce the cost and also to mark the change of the space..

The bath due to economic necessity was painted with colours especially for porcelain tiles and a shower cabin was added.