Restoration and reuse of a jewel of a protected monument in Athens

Year: 2024
Surface area: 292 sq.m.
Size of Plot: 150 sq.m.

Photography :Mariana Bisti

The project concerns a two-storey building from 1930 on Akamantos Street, within the precincts of the archaeological site of Athens and with a view of the Acropolis. It belongs to the Beaux-Arts movement and is one of three buildings of this style in the city, introducing what were radical elements for its time. 

A great many restrictions and one wonderful opportunity

The building restoration was a challenge due to the very stringent conservation restrictions, however, it was also a rare opportunity to restore a unique architectural exemplar, allowing it to move forward into the next phase of its history. The owners acquired the building in 2016 intending to convert it into a family home, wanting a personal handcrafted space, which would incorporate their well-loved furniture and works of art, collected over a lifetime. 

A contemporary, livable building in a historical monument

The design followed the rationale of minimum intervention in reorganizing the interior spaces and lasted for a year. The process of gaining the permits took three years and construction a year-and-a-half. In the construction process we came into direct contact with the physical materiality of the building. The process of restoration of such a building proved to be equally as important as the result itself. We collaborated with master artisans in traditional professions that are in the process of becoming extinct, coordinating a renovation in which 120 people took part, producing a unique hand-made result. The project made use of workshops and small artisanal crews, creating novel networks for the exchange of know-how and keeping alive precious techniques for similar future projects. We selected groundbreaking ecological materials, based on traditional building techniques, in line with the construction philosophy of the building. Raw materials were utilized from the primary sector, and were selected for providing an extended lifespan. 

Every decision concerning the conservation and restoration of the decorative and morphological elements required a careful choice to determine the extent of the interventions and the appropriate materials, in order to maintain the aesthetic and historical value of the building. 

At the same time the structure underwent metal reinforcement, without altering the nature of the building. In combination with insulation and modern methods of temperature regulation, the residence constitutes a contemporary sustainable energy building shell.  

This project doesn’t simply concern the restoration of a building and its reintroduction to the production process, but also allowing it once again to become part of the life of the city, to become yet again a living and happy part of the collective essence of the neighborhood.

A new beginning, but also continuity

With our architectural intervention we sought to give new life to the building, without a sense of nostalgia for the past, while retaining a sense of respect for its era. Our role was to take care of the building and to decide what changes were necessary in order to maintain its own particular handcrafted nature. 

Through this process of observation and liminal intervention, we came into contact with the experience of artisans, who had worked on the building from 1930. The sustainability implicit in the building itself, due to its uninterrupted presence through time, continues through our own interventions, adding new elements that connect it to the present day and its future. We too now form part of its community.

The care and knowledge of different generations of master craftspeople and architects, imprinted on the building, form an uninterrupted chain of human creativity. The building itself is now transformed into a bearer of knowledge collaboration and solidarity through time.