Anastasia G. Filippeou designed the renovation and floor addition of a private residence on 17 Mitsaion str. in Athens
Built in the 1930’s, the existing residence in its original configuration comprised of a basement and an elevated ground floor and was surrounded by a garden.
Lacking heavy neoclassical ornamentation, the front façade exhibited vestiges of neoclassical architecture and Art Deco metal gates. As far as the architecture is concerned, there was no intention to disrupt the style of the facades.
On the contrary, the design proposal aimed at enhancing the existing neoclassical composition of the facades by adding elements that were considered as missing, while maintaining the simplicity and humbleness characteristic of the original expression.
The base strip of the building was dressed in a brushed Euboean grey marble, as was traditionally the case in neoclassical facades.
In the elevated ground floor part of the façade, the horizontal consecutive wall shadow gaps were replicated, again in consistency with the neoclassical order.
Chamfered-edge solid marble frames, made out of the same marble, emphasize the three most dominant façade openings.
Summarizing early twentieth century Athenian urban lifestyle, different from today’s urban life in the capital, this house was to accommodate a contemporary family, following the addition of a floor and the radical renovation of the existing ones.
The interior anatomy was maintained intact and was repeated on the new first floor, while the open well staircase now connects all floors continuously from basement to the roof top. Vertical steel elements, have replaced the traditional balustrade of a staircase, but also support the independent steps, each one having a tread made of a solid piece of white Dionysos marble.
In the main living spaces and the bedrooms, an oak wood floor succeeds the white marble floors of the entrance hall. At ground floor level, the old glass pane door of the vestibule has been replaced by a newly designed metal one.
In the remaining spaces, the rough textured grey ceilings made of a granite powder coating create the impression of a sculpted stone surface and their pronounced carved-edge pays tribute to the old ceiling design.
The bathroom walls also exhibit white marble mosaic surfaces in the style of the popular techniques of that period.
Finally, the back-garden design was inspired by the courtyards of the early twentieth century urban residences and the surviving orange trees and additional planting were surrounded by marble paving blocks.
Without excess, regarding both its aesthetic and its scale, this residence has been designed to satisfy the needs of the contemporary family, but also to respect the urban scale of the Athenian capital.
Credits & Details
Project Title: Floor Addition and Renovation of Existing Neoclassical Residence
Address: 17 Mitsaion Street, Acropolis, Athens, Greece
Architecture: Anastasia G. Filippeou
Structural Engineering Design: Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos & Associates
Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Design: JEPA – Ι. Papagrigorakis & Associates
Landscape Architecture: Karolos Chanikian – Greenways Landscape Architecture LTD
Lighting Design: FOSS Lighting Design
Construction & General Project Management: Giorgos Papagiannopoulos – Urban Systems
Surface Area: Interiors 382,30sq.m. (on three floors) – Roof Garden 127,40sq.m. –
Site Surface Area: 363,90sq.m.
Project Duration: May 2018 – September 2019
Photographer: Vassilis K. Makris –
Assistant Photographer: Katerina Vratits
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