Area: 2900 sqm

Design Team: Marialena Tsolka, Yvette Wolbers, Dimitris Iosifidis

A beautifully composed apartment block on the coast at Voula, south of Athens, the Nireos Building was designed as an expression of architectural fluidity. The orchestration of the streamlined building responds directly to the geometric complexity of the sea-front landscape below it, re-imagined as the framework for a series of super-contemporary residences. The evolution of the cantilevered terrace profiles mixes the rectilinear and curvilinear, emphasizing and enhancing the volumes of shadow and light within the forms of each other to create the most elegant of architectural profiles.

At ground level, the solidity of the dark geometric stone massing of the perimeter walls emphasizes and amplifies the lightness of the architecture that rises above it. The delicately tapering edges of the terraces on each floor add to the sublime elegance of the building, a further demonstration of our finesse with materials and construction capabilities. The building responds with care to the topography and local context, interspersing the solid external facades with louvered wooden panels and elevated private atrium gardens that integrate the building fully with the design language of the surrounding low-density residential area.

The internal program of the Nireos Building is defined by the lightness of its architectural framing, with a minimum of disruption to the expansive views of the sea and horizon. The structural intricacy creates dramatically spacious and light-flooded interiors on every floor, with a south-west orientation ensuring the maximum exposure to the sun as it arcs across the sea. Triple-glazed floor-to-ceiling windows connect the internal experience to elements outside from throughout the apartments, while also ensuring maximum environmental accreditation, matched by the sustainability classification of the interior materials specification.  Full-height atrium gardens within each apartment further the extraordinary total immersion into the natural beauty of the location and mirroring the tree-lined landscape that unfolds in front of the building. The building is comprised of a ground floor 5-bedroom apartment (460m) is arranged around a double-height loft space, twin second-floor apartments (180m), and a penthouse residence that offers a spectacular glass-fronted swimming pool embedded within its terrace. 

The interior of the (second floor) Nireos apartment is a carefully structured layout, designed to maximize views of the coastline below. Rejecting conventional wall arrangements, spectacular atrium gardens act as verdant internal spatial dividers, softening and filtering the light throughout the day, matched by decorative wooden lattice panels, creating a further organic element and contrasting with the sense of structural solidity provided by the dramatic massing of the suspended stone fireplace and hearth. Further solidity is provided by floor-to-ceiling stone panels throughout the kitchens and bathrooms, complemented by the warmer, earthy tones of oak. A minimal lighting plan, designed in-house, is carefully integrated into the clean lines of the architectural plan and interior specification, creating a series of intimate moods that focus attention on the beauty and wonder of the coastline outside.