Silver Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2021
Xerolithi Residence
by George Sinas
- A' Design Award 2021 Silver Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Sinas Architects
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 23,092
- Verification code 84AF27AF98 · Verify this award
About Xerolithi Residence
A house that blends in its natural environment. Steep rough slopes, scattered thorny bushes, along with short stone retaining walls, locally called xerolithies created a long time ago for land cultivation purposes. The main facades of the house are formed as xerolithies. These walls that have a lightness like ribbons in the air and seem to be moving gently closer and away of the slope and independently from one another, forming living spaces in between them. The roof covered with dirt and vegetation imitates the natural landscape, making the house almost invisible.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- When one thinks of the Greek Islands, stacked white boxes come to mind. The design challenged this morphological preconception, by imagining the main facades of the house as xerolithies, starting low and gradually developing a sufficient height. They move closer and away of the slope and independently from one another, forming spaces in between them.
The traditional bamboo pergola with its wooden raw beams in their natural color can be seen throughout the length of the house, inside and outside. The beams follow the curvy morphology, like vertebrae of a long spinal cord. - Dimensions & Packaging
- The ground floor area of the house is 180sqm.
Additional 60sqm of basement area. - Tags
- Architecture, Cycladic Architecture, Landscape Design, Integrated design, Summer House, Island Architecture, Greece, Aegean, Serifos, Planted Roof, Curves, Wavy Form, Stone
- Production Technology
- The outer shell of the structure is mainly stone. Exterior walls are 50cm thick. Concrete structural system.
- Design Challenge
- The hardest part of this design was taming the wavy morphology. Making it sensual yet keeping the layout of the house functional.
- Project Duration
- The project was designed in 2015.
The contraction started in 2016 and lasted until 2018.
The house is situated in Kalo Ampeli, Serifos Island, Cyclades, Greece. - Operation Flow
- All spaces have been placed sequentially to spread out as long and thin as possible. The main house is separated by the bedrooms in order to create a space for the main covered veranda along the long spine of the house.
- Inspiration
- The main focus of the design was to create a house that blends in its natural environment. An environment comprised of steep dirt and gravel slopes, dressed with scattered wild thorny bushes, and beautiful large rock formations. Though the most important existing elements, were the short stone retaining walls, locally called xerolithies, created a long time ago for land cultivation purposes. These walls, usually not more than a meter in height formed flat stripes of land parallel to the slope and extended along the entire surface of the hillside.
The site with its xerolithies was the spark of inspiration. - Image Credits
- Photographer of all images: Yiorgos Kordakis
Drawings and Renderings and sketch: George Sinas