Unifying and converting two old shops into architectural office posed an exceptionally challenging task. This challenge arose from our desire for the resulting space structure to reflect and crystallize the working methods and compositional methodology we follow (or at least the one we aspire to follow).
In terms of spatial arrangement, the architectural office is organized into three levels. At the underground level, a subterranean and uncanny realm, we find the model/fabrication workshop and the material/texture library. It is a space where we create prototypes and material palettes that constitute the foundation for each new project.
On the upper level, bathed in natural light and transparency, a linear table accommodates the necessary computers and design tools for the drawing and visual procustion.
The two realms mentioned above converge, shape-shift, and evolve on the ground level, directly connecting with the city. The prototypes, sketches, and diagrams unite and become the basis for daily discussions on the development of projects and the ideas that occupy our minds. A slanted wooden theater brings together all the levels and separates the “square” of composition from the auxiliary and storage spaces of the office.
Regarding the plan’s organization, the two narrow sides of the space open up to light through radial metal and glass windows. Meanwhile, the two walls of the existing shell define and participate in the space as a field of creation and exploration. One boundary reflects our relationship with the past; a radiant custom-made construction of metal and wood accommodates the books that shape us, the objects that influence us, the prototypes we have created, and the completed works. Together, they are a constant element that gradually develops and evolves with us. The other wall, facing the opposite, refers to the present. A large pin-up board hosts representational material from current projects, ideas, references, poems and obsessions that nourish our daily compositional process and its dialogues. It is a dynamic boundary that changes rapidly and dynamically, reflecting our daily discussions, concerns and creations.
Between this duality of speed and time, the new pace of our architectural office is developed across three levels. It is a space of creation, restlessness, doubt, and ideas—a space of life.
Architects: P4architecture
Design Team: Alkiviadis Pyliotis, Evangelos Fokialis, Konstantinos Pyliotis, Panayiota Kyriakou
Project Architect: Alkiviadis Pyliotis
Structural Engineer: Skalos EPE (Demetrios Kokas)
Mechanical Engineer: Sourilas Konstantinos (KNS engineering consultants)
Construction Company: Neoktisma (Giannis Psomadelis), Dimitris Kollias
Carpentry Work: Spyros Kazikakos
Metal Constructions: Alberto Galstian
Photography: Antonis Sarris
Area:175 m2
Project Type: Reuse (Completed)
Project Year: 2023