Glyfada Apartment Complex, Athens

This five-unit seafront apartment building, designed by SAOTA with interior architecture by ARRCC, is located in the southern suburbs of Athens at the gateway to the Athens Riviera. It overlooks the beach and the Aegean Sea with views towards Aegina and the distant hills of Poros, while the Hymettus Mountain rises behind it. The front of the building presents a layered approach with expansive glazing, recessed columns and moveable screens that moderate the bright maritime light and provide privacy while allowing the interiors to open to the views. The rear of the building presents a contrastingly solid facade with puncture openings to shelter itself from its neighbours to the side and behind.  The front facade design emphasises the play of horizontal and vertical planes. The crisp white finishes and almost classically symmetrical proportions of the building reflect a contemporary architectural approach rooted in the climatically appropriate local Mediterranean tradition but expressed in a language of timeless minimalism.