A summer house in Aliveri by Natalia Kokosalaki

The design of this summer house in Aliveri, a region near Athens, can be summarized in 2 key words: “Outdoor Living”, as architect Natalia Kokosalaki focused on creating outdoor spaces as private as possible, with the interiors being open towards them and towards the sea. Hence, the outdoor spaces, the swimming pool, the bbq area and the vegetables garden are the driving forces for a type of indoor living that is compact, versatile and simple. The design concept was based on using the protection from external conditions provided by the compact monolithic volume, but shaping it internally to create niches that act as shaded inhabitable areas, offering at the same time a 180-degree view towards the sea. The design aimed at creating something beautiful, introvert and distinctive from its surroundings, which nevertheless keeps costs down, in a value for money sense. A key challenge in the interior layout of this house was to maintain the potential for future expansions, by also meeting the programmatic requirements of the brief. The layout breaks down into two main zones: roughly three quarters of the floor incorporate a master bedroom, bathroom, compact kitchen, dining and living, with the remainder of the plan left open so that new spaces could later be incorporated to the house. The defining feature of the construction is the wall, whose stone was excavated directly from the site and formed in-situ from local manufacturers. Finally, roof photovoltaics and water collector tanks were installed, significantly reducing the building’s environmental footprint.