The site of this new two-storey house project is located in the area of Neos Voutzas, which was destructed by a wildfire in summer 2018. Considering this dramatic incident, the architectural intention is to reverse it by developing a positive and playful concept: a design that examines the art of ‘living well’ in the programmatic layout of a small house with the typical functional requirements.

The main intention was a space planning that activates the entire site and creates a flowing series of interconnected indoor and outdoor spaces. Thus, each member of the family is able to join the common living yet having always their own privacy. The placement of the new building in the site derives from the need to take advantage of the south sunlight and ensures direct connectability to the public street.

Simultaneously, the volume of the house divides the outdoor space in two zones, with the larger one remaining conspicuously private while the one next to the street configures a threshold to approach the entrance. The main characteristic of this spatial threshold is the wide surface of the pilotis that works as the public facade of the house and at the same time as an outdoor room that can absorb public activities.

The construction system of the building generates a playful scenery that vivifies the discrete background of vertical simple surfaces. Specifically, the wall at the north side emphasizes the neighboring property and provides a distance from a potential adjacent construction. A critical principle was the separation of the common and private spaces in two levels.

The living area, namely the kitchen and living room, is arranged on the ground level and is selectively open to an expansive garden around the house. The large windows and the tall walls are combined in order to generate different levels of privacy and contact between exterior and interior space.

The upper level is designed as a distinctive volume, which subtly refers to the archetypical iconography of the house, hovers above the ground level. It contains the sleeping rooms and operates on a private dimension, totally apart from the social areas. Through an exterior staircase, this story is accessible autonomously and thus gives the possibility to bypass the entrance from the ground floor.

The surface elements are minimal and cover the biggest part of the white metal construction, while the rooftop consists of corrugated galvanized iron sheets. The design attempts to redefine the framework of a suburban house project with a proposition that provides optimal amenity, affordable construction and keeps the essence of dwelling.