Twin Houses | Kifissia - Athens

Nonidentical and dissimilar in size and interior layout, the two houses share a common entrance and passageway and architecturally are designed to look alike. They share the entrance canopy that connects their otherwise completely separate building volumes and defines the point of entrance to the site. Their architecture is referential to mid-century West Coast American modernism, with a characteristic flat slab metal roof with an overhang, long full height façade openings and an elevated building base. Balconies are formed as corner cut-outs into the building volume, where the black metal columns are revealed supporting the roof. The façade flatness is also interrupted by the continuous metal strip running along the building perimeter that protrudes in front of all first-floor apertures to carry hanging and succulent plants.

Black metal, natural stone, textured stucco walls and a hint of wood form the palette of the exterior architecture. The stone building base, wooden cladding and carefully designed, organic surrounding landscape are intended to soften the otherwise austere architectural composition. The façade openings also feature a mechanically operated set of black metal, vertical shutters that provide shading and a layer of protection.

Each of the houses is a two-storey building and each has a private garden, an exterior pool and a basement with parking, storage and service areas. In both cases, the ground floor encompasses open space living and dining areas and a spacious kitchen, while the sliding window frames allow for the extension of the spaces towards the outdoors. The first-floor plan of each residence includes four bedrooms, bathrooms and dressing rooms and interconnects with the lower two floors by elevator and by a custom-designed staircase.