This 55sqm/592sqft apartment is in the semi-basement of a 30-year-old building near the coast of Athens. Originally an empty space used for storage, the owners decided to renovate it for future rental purposes but fell in love with it during the process, deciding to live in it themselves!
The entrance is Japanese-inspired and designed as a small outdoor space, like a little garden. It is formed by a wooden partition with an integrated shoe storage cupboard and bench above, where one can sit to take off and store their shoes. The floor is custom-made with tiles inserted in concrete. Towards the rest of the apartment, a Japanese-style screen is hanging which provides some privacy.
The home is further divided by colour, with the kitchen featuring a deep maroon laminate, a full-size fridge, as well as a custom island bench that opens on all four sides for storage.
A contrasting bold blue bathroom is visible from the kitchen through a window in the wall between the two rooms that also allows for the flow of light.
Division through flexible partitions, colour and materials creates a space that feels larger and more varied than it is, ensuring even basement storage can become a comfortable home.
To create the experience of a bigger size, the architects where possible avoided walls that cut the space into even smaller rooms and instead protected & offered deep views. The rich alternating furniture, detailing, colour, and materials create an illusion of passing from one space to another (based on habit and typical experience), while in reality, the space is the same.
Treating the space as a system (group) of different rooms, but without actually having any walls, creates an unexpected, surreal, exciting result providing a sense of density. It becomes interesting, and unpredictable to walk and look around as views between the different elements, live visual filters, appear to be always changing, always different, and new.
Photos by Yiannis Hadjiaslanis
