+ Vlachava 4 ₂₀₁₉

In collaboration with Ioanna Voulaki Architect

A cluster of three dilapidated neoclassical buildings in the centre of Athens were purchased by the client with the aim to convert into a small hotel. The following work represents the achievement of planning permission, and the early stages of documentation.

Defined by an internal street and void that divides the site in two, the buildings were used during the 20th century by the sewing and textiles industry, that is now only extant in fragments in the area. The street facing building, is typical of neoclassical architecture in Athens and, compared to the rear auxiliary buildings that were used for storage and workshops, maintains the generous proportions and details of the period.

Our design concept proposed the addition of one new hotel level, and a series of public functions which would emphasise the uniquely Athenian condition – that of the internal street and condensed clustering of form.

Typological research revealed that this was largely an unknown condition for hotels in Athens and therefore we sought to propose a series of public spaces which, from the street where a restaurant and bar are located, lead to the back of the site, up a new stair in the existing void which connects the ground with a pool and large roof terrace where a bar is proposed. Rooms are accessed by existing walkways in the central void.

Strict archaeological codes and planning rules required the buildings to remain largely unchanged, especially on the street frontage. Requiring structural reinforcement, preliminary works to jacketing the existing columns and beams with reinforced concrete will be carried out.

The existing structure in the rear buildings resulted in the rooms being rationalised by moving all of the storage to the back walls where the structural junctions were the most problematic. Ground level rooms were raised half a level to separate them from the internal public street.

Steel framed construction will be used for the new level of hotel rooms and rear staircase. Structural requirements dictated a complete concrete construction for the pool, which expresses monolithic tectonics, exposing beams as well as the columns which travel to the ground. The roof terrace holds a number of sheltering structures, which are light in their construction and express a continuity with the new stair.

Together with the neighbouring building (see Vlachava 4) our proposal provides a public open space in the centre of Athens, that is focused on the dense and complex conglomeration of built form in which the hotel will exist.