Studio Thanasis opens up a dark Kolonaki apartment with a bold green pod

Athens-based Studio Thanasis has reconfigured a 55-square-metre apartment in Kolonaki, introducing an open-plan layout and a vivid lime-green pod to bring light into the formerly dim interior. The apartment, located on Dinokratous Street beneath Lykavittos Hill, was originally accessed through a grand 1960s modernist lobby. Inside, however, long corridors and a compartmentalised plan left much of the space in shadow. Of its three windows, two faced a narrow lightwell, leaving only a single south-facing balcony door to admit daylight. To address this, the architects demolished most of the interior walls, allowing sunlight from the balcony to reach deep into the apartment. The private areas, bedroom and bathroom, were consolidated into a raised “pod” at the rear of the plan. This elevated platform houses all the apartment’s services, with plumbing, heating and electrical systems running beneath. The pod’s floor is finished in a striking lime green, chosen to brighten the enclosed bedroom. A rounded corner softens the pod’s edges and forms a distinctive entrance to the private zone. In the newly opened living area, original terrazzo slabs, hardwood flooring and timber-framed windows were carefully restored. The kitchen now occupies what was once the bedroom, anchored by a circular island in dark green marble and lacquer that acts as both focal point and gathering place.