Casa D

Surrounded by taller buildings with intrusive balconies, the house was redesigned as an opaque, volumetric form—a modern fortress that defends its interior life from external pressures. Rather than compete with vertical development, the design preserves a low-profile silhouette, reducing the visual and environmental impact of new construction in the dense urban fabric. By retaining the original concrete foundations and structure, the project embraces sustainability through adaptive reuse. Select portions of the slabs were removed to create double-height spaces, while a lightweight steel addition on top respects the region’s seismic demands.

To ensure privacy from the taller neighboring buildings, the house takes on an opaque monolithic form. Light enters through a strategically carved west corner, where an exterior patio creates a small oasis between the intersecting streets, shaded by mature trees. Inside, the new layout revolves around the central double-height space, where a sculptural staircase connects the living and kitchen areas below with the bedrooms and a skylit studio above, filling the interiors with diffused natural light.

The garden, spread across three levels, preserves existing fruit trees and introduces new Mediterranean vegetation, enhancing comfort and shade during Athens’s hot summers.

Casa D integrates an advanced energy-efficient system, combining aerothermal technology, radiant and cooling floors, and fan coils for climate control. The system is powered by solar panels and photovoltaic collectors installed on the new flat roof, supplying renewable energy to both the home and the municipal power grid.

Through this precise interplay of old and new, Cometa Architects redefines the potential of adaptive reuse, achieving a home that is both contextually integrated and environmentally responsive—a model of sustainable architecture in Athens.