THE CONCEPT
As revealed by its name, the project design draws heavily on traditional Sfakian architecture. Although protected by Greek law in recent years, Chora Sfakion’s architectural landscape has been dealt a heavy blow by arbitrary and unpermitted construction in the years following WW2. Our office decided to look back on records, and study traditional local building typologies, in order to recreate the ambience of old Sfakia. Thus, the complex is comprised of two-story volumes of limited floor area, with the upper floors accessed by typical exterior staircases.
BASIC PRINCIPLES
With building scale and the concept of a village-within-a-village settled upon, design was faced with the challenge of the building plot: an area of 633 square metres of totally enclosed space, except for a 2.70 m narrow access to a small road, with a notable zig-zag perimeter, and a large height variance. This kind of landscape led to the decision to place the buildings on the boundaries of the plot, in order to make room for open, common spaces in the middle and routes to access each one of them. Stemming from the central square/yard at the heart of the complex, a network of narrow paths cobbled with local stone leads both to the main entrance, as well as the guests’ accomodation.
MATERIALITY
The project makes wide use of natural materials. Door and window frames, sunshades, balconies, pergolas et al. are made of wood in accordance with the settlement’s traditional style. The same applies to interior furniture made of solid oak in modern outlines and a touch of traditional patterns. Local stone can be seen in most hardscape surfaces, as well as in interior spaces. Outdoor facades are renderes in white colour, following the village’s own style.
Team Members Antonis Dysseakis, Nikos Fournaris, Yannis Prosoparis
Structural engineer Vasilantonakis Vardis & Zampetakis Manousos
EM study Pentaris Spyros & Kallipolitis Christos OE
Construction Orfanoudakis Techniki Kataskevastiki
Construction oversight inDetail Architecture, Leonidas Viglakis
Interior design inDetail Architecture
Hotel Concept DESTSETTERS
Landscape design inDetail Architecture, ΚΗΠΟστύλ
Lighting designinDetail Architecture
Photography Giorgos Anastasakis/SOUTH space for photography
3D Visualization InDetail Architecture, Alexandros Kapsalis/3dWorks
Plot area 632,64 m²
Total area 441,03 m²
Design year 2018-2019
Construction completed 2021