The new building comes to fill an urban gap in the city’s waterfront and skyline. The plot, small and elongated, open between the two streets it resides on, has a southern orientation.
The composition in its entirety is developed vertically and is organized between two strong parallel walls that define the limits and hold all individual uses, while a linear staircase, placed in the center of the composition, distributes all movements between the different levels of the structure. The steep inclination of the final level directs the entire composition towards the south and, therefore, the sea.
The ground floor, having a public character, houses leisure facilities, which extend across the beach promenade. The upper floors hold the individual apartment units, with each apartment expanding onto large balconies overlooking the waterfront.
The south elevation of the building, organized on a strict grid, expresses the respective uses and apartment units. Large wooden shades are used on this facade to protect and create the necessary living conditions indoors, while at the same time composing an ever-changing and vibrant look on the outside, one that depends on the season and the needs of the users.
The materiality of the composition is limited to the concrete of the monolithic shell of the building and the natural wood of the shades.
In an ever-evolving and developing city with modern needs, the new building seeks to complete and redefine urban boundaries, between the private and the public, between the sky and the earth, the city and the sea.
Location: Kalamata, Messinia, Greece
Architects: P4architecture
Design Team: Konstantinos Pyliotis, Chrysothemi Kouloumenta
3D Visualization: Petropoulos Andreas
Project Type: Residential Building
Project Year: 2020
