A+B
Houses

Houses A+B are located on a sea front plot with private access to a protected beach on the western coast of Evia. The site is shaped by rock formations, a mature wild olive trees’ grove and spectacular views towards Attica and Evoikos Gulf. The main aim of the project is to create two houses engulfing the existing olive trees with the minimum impact on the terrain and nature.

Interpretation of the project is the “inhabitation” of the traditional rock retaining walls. The design uses the structure of them to create an artificial landscape that is both rural and domestic in use. As the stone walls adapt into the landscape, two twisted engravings create the ground floor of each house. Perpendicular to the engraved volumes of the houses, two 14 m-long boxes “hover” over the landscape, taking advantage of the view towards the sea and the level access for the house. The two white boxes react like “free stand” sculptures, as the other volumes are camouflaged into the landscape.

The core of the ground floor, a fully glazed common space, constitutes the ‘extension’ of the landscape revealing the unique panorama as a dynamic and alternating presence. The private spaces of the house -bedrooms and the wet units – are accommodated on either side of the ground level and on the “hovering” box of each house. The interstitial spaces, created in the in-between, define the main two structural elements of the volume. The accessible green roofs of the houses offer the maximum connection to the landscape and the pleasure of the spectacular view. Along the houses, an elongated swimming pool stretches in line with the horizon of the sea.