Spolia_House

The starting point and main reference of the house is the neighboring church of Ag. Marina, a byzantine church adjacent to the plot, that has marble inlays – Spolia from ancient Greek temples that pre-existed there. This idea of Spolia become predominant both on the inside and outside of the house. The exterior facade resembles the facade of the church, by using marble elements for the window sills and lintels. A custom made rain-gutter made out of marble slabs, clearly emphasize the leading role of marble in the overall composition.

Clients approached us with a plot with a remaining building area capacity of 47sqm. The building program called for a one bedroom house, that would house a grandmother, sharing the same courtyard with her daughter and her family. To make the most of the outdoor space, the house formed an L-shape that adjusted to a boundary of the plot that shared the same shape, leaving only a small patio between the new house and the border, so that would offer cross ventilation and sunlight to common spaces.

The L-shape is something used to describe and organize interior space too. The kitchen cabinets as well as the sitting area form two opposing corners that create a lively space in-between. Movement flows start from the courtyard, to the front entrance of the house, to the patio, and till the very end of the house, which is the bedroom and out to the courtyard again in a constant loop, for the grandchildren to occupy the space and chase each other in and outside the house.

Inside of the house, the role of Spolia, besides the marble counter top, is depicted by the old furniture the client owned and we reused in this project. A mostly neutral palette of whites and grays contradicts with the dark color of the old wooden furniture, on the one hand, and the vivid color of the lacquered kitchen cabinets on the other hand, creating an interesting dipole between the traditional and the contemporary.

Spolia House

Architecture: NoDāta Architecture

Design Team: Christos Gourdoukis, Xenia Papastergiou

Construction and Project Management: NoDāta Architecture, Giannis Vagias

Status: Completed

Location: Paros

Date: 2022