About CasaD

This rehabilitation project involved restructuring and expanding an old house. The design is a volumetric exercise of solid facades and punctuated openings, nestled in a corner of a residential neighborhood with varied housing typologies and heights. The decision to maintain a low-rise building with a garden in a dense urban context minimizes the impact of new construction while reusing the structural core of the original house.

The 1960s house contributed its solid concrete structure, foundations, and footprint to the new build. Portions of the slabs were cut to create double-height spaces, and a new steel structure was added on top, reinforced for the region’s high seismic activity.

Surrounding buildings to the northwest and southwest are taller, with large balconies that compromise the house’s privacy. In response, the house takes on an opaque volume. To introduce light, the volume is cut at its western vertex, creating an exterior oasis at the intersection of two streets, where the distance to the building opposite is greater and disrupted by tall trees.

The interior layout revolves around the double-height space housing the staircase, which connects the living area and kitchen with the bedrooms and a studio. A skylight above the space provides intense, diffused light throughout the house in the mornings.

The living area and kitchen open onto a garden that unfolds over three levels. During construction, the original fruit trees were preserved, and new ones were planted, along with Mediterranean vegetation to provide cooling during Athens’ hot summer days.

The residence is equipped with a comprehensive, autonomous energy system for domestic hot water and air conditioning. It features radiant floor heating and cooling, as well as fan coils powered by aerothermal technology. Solar collectors and photovoltaic panels installed on the new flat roof power the system and contribute energy to the municipal grid.

Location:  Holargos, Athens, Greece

Size: 187 m2 + Basement

Plot Area: 302 m2

Typology: Residential, Expansion, New bulit

Client: Private

Status: Completed 2023

Study Team: Faidra Matziaraki, Victor Gonzalez Marti, Nicolas de Leon

Structural, Electromecanical team: Georgios Tsalikidis, Despina Georgiadou, Agathi Balampani

Construction company: Tsalikidis Constructions

External Consulting: LUUN Lighting , Niki Chronopoulou Design

Photography: Giorgos Sfakianakis

AWARDS/ MENTIONS