Two interiors in Athens manifest the rules of their structural design

Two adjacent but separate ground floor shops of an old Athenian apartment building in the area of Pagrati, constitute the framework of the architectural intervention that converted them into a solicitor office and an art studio. The main feature of the double intervention on the interior and on the facade is the creation of two modular, small-scale constructions independent of the existing structural system. The aim of this synthetic decision is to redefine the inhabitation of a ground floor in a dense urban environment highlighting the dialectical relation between intervention and the pre-existing order.

Specifically, the first intervention, the solicitor’s office, is a composite metal and wood construction that organises the working and reception areas in a linear way. An analytic-dissecting approach of its components reveals the large height of the existing interior. Both the handling of the facade and the elements that organise the interior investigate the sense of privacy through the idea of transparency. The second area, the art studio, is a light steel construction which, starting from the facade, develops through the space and highlights the existing linear structure. This structure also functions as a synthetic tool that organises the various functions of the space, as the elements that compose it – bench, balcony, and staircase – delineate its conditions of use.