House in Archaggelos

The house is situated in a heavily built-up area, adjacent to the northwest boundary of a busy and hence noisy roadway. The initial purpose of the design was to cut off the continuous noise coming from the nearby roadway. The inclined position of the house gives the impression that the building is pushed away from the noisy northwest boundary, bending towards the southeast external area and thus protecting it from the undesired noise pollution. The northwest wall of the house is mainly compact, with narrow window openings, leaving all the big window openings on the more private southeast façade. The interesting part of the strict, compact northwest façade is the staircase volume, which extends from the wall with a large impressive glass area. The glass staircase also works as a natural source of light for the ground floor area. The communal living spaces as well as the external area and courtyard are positioned on the boundary of the plot. Entering the two-storey house, one meets all the communal living areas in a semi-open plan design. The living and dining areas are double-height, giving the visitor a more impressive feeling. Both living room areas and the kitchen open towards the southeast private courtyard. On the first floor, at the end of a bridge crossing the living and dining areas, we find the three bedrooms of the family. Protruding the roof of the house is a wooden-like .cantilever surrounding the building. This structure, although an element with no natural aspect, creates the most important element of the building, the layer of shadow. The size of the cantilever changes depending on the needs of the façade, offering shadow and light both inside and outside the house.