Split & Rotate: Vacation House in Greece by Nicos Kalogirou

Split & Rotate: Vacation House in Greece by Nicos Kalogirou

Resort House

Architect: Nicos Kalogirou
Project Type: Vacation House | Holiday Home
Collaborators: Telis & Prodromos Vassiliadis, Artemis Kalogirou, Evangelos Kotsioris
Photos: Nicos Kalogirou
Location: Naoussa, Imathia Greece
Floor area: 143 sq.m.
Budget: €155,000

Split & Rotate, a holiday home designed by architect Nicos Kalogirou, has been nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2009. Located at the foot of East Vermion mountain inNaoussa Greece, the single-family house consists of two volumes linked by a glass passageway.

The main residence has a metal structure and is clad in shipping plywood. The second volume consists of a children’s pavilion with louvred facades. Nicos Kalogirou is a professor and president of the school of architecture at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.



The archaeological site of the School of Aristotle is situated nearby, along with the city of Naoussa, known for its revolutionary past, and being one of the earliest centres of industrial development and urban modernisation in the broader area of Macedonia. Responding to the spirit of the place, the general layout is austere, with clear geometric elements, industrial aesthetics and dynamic yet controllable tension.



The general layout results from the split in two unequal parts; the main residence and the children’s pavilion – that are bridged with a transparent, glass passage way. The composition results from the simultaneous rotation of the volumes on two axes according to the topography and the views, thus ensuring, a dialectic composition of the entirety, with clear, relatively independently functioning yet connected parts.



The main, elongated, inclined, U-sectioned volume is rotated following the natural slope, while its slit openings and the semi-open spaces at both ends frame remarkable views of the plain of Central Macedonia and Mount Vermion. From a functional point of view, the linear arrangement of successive levels ensures unified spaces with the living room located at the lower level overlooking the main view and the higher level reserved for the private areas of the parents.



The smaller prismatic volume is also U-sectioned, rotated though by 90 ο, thus creating the children’s ‘pavilion’, open at three of its sides. The maintenance of the horizontality through its cantilevered parts, especially towards the side of the down slope, combined with a perimetric pixeled louvers filter gives the impression of lightness and hovering.



The realisation of the project was not easy. An initially larger version of concrete and wooden elements had to be abandoned due to cost and high demands in the construction. An eventual cancellation of the project led to alternative, and probably more inventive material decisions and construction solutions, revealing an unexpected flexibility of the initial concept to a series of transformations.



The unusually light, for Greek construction standards, metal framed structure and its external covering with shipping plywood, was chosen for its low cost and high speed of realisation. Actually the ‘Split and Rotate’ house constitutes a reversible, pre-fab structure made of rough industrial materials that are left in their natural textures, echoing the particular industrial past of the city of Naoussa.



Avoiding any evident morphological influence, the conscious references to the local building tradition are indirect. They can be traced in the typological level, regarding the narrow-faced urban houses with interior spaces arranged in a succession, the semi-open living spaces and the light structures of the upper levels with a transparency controllable by means of perforated filters that facilitate climatic adaptation.



The vacation house in Naoussa is the result of a small series of compositional studies of splitting, graduating and rotating clear geometric prisms, adjustment to the topography and environmental adaptation to the natural and cultural landscape of the place.

House in Cornwall by Seth Stein Architects

House in Cornwall by Seth Stein Architects

Resort House

A new build family house located on a steep woodland slope and a small cliff overlooking the Fowey Estuary on the south Cornish coast. The linear plan arcs slightly to follow the land contours while the timber structure is cut into the slope and reinstated by a flat planted roof. enclosed area 550m2.















Seth Stein Architects has an international reputation for designing exceptional private houses. Having completed contemporary residential projects for both urban settings and greenfield sites in the UK and overseas, the practice\'s breadth and expertise in this sector earned it the title of BD Single Dwelling Architect of the Year 2007.

Bondi Beach Home by ASA Architect

Bondi Beach Home by ASA Architect

Resort House

Situated with a spectacular aspect of Bondi Beach, this multi split-level house is designed to optimise access to its views, open plan living, and environmental comfort. Designed by AJA Architect, The architect delivers creative and appropriate solutions for a broad range of projects in urban design, architecture and building interiors.

A main living level extends from front terrace, overlooking the beach, through to a rear landscaped courtyard and swimming pool, creating an inner sanctuary for the residence. Lower levels include 3 bedrooms, a study and rumpus room, while an upper level provides a master bedroom retreat.





















With a spectacular aspect over Bondi Beach this spatially fluid split-level house optimizes enjoyment of the site’s beach views and setting. Through the visual permeability of the split-level design and the stair layout, a series of ‘great’ views to the beach were achieved throughout the house and garden, complementing the site’s coastal ambience.





















The landscaped entry courtyard leads to an open stairwell that rises in half levels from the entry courtyard to the children’s bedroom level, up to the living room, then up to the family, dining and kitchen level, and then on to the master bedroom suite. Formal living is oriented to westerly beach views, and a more protected and relaxed family area is focused around the loggia and pool terrace.





















The material palette was based on robust finishes in tune with the context, and included a specialist metal finish on the stairwell to enhance the impact of the setting sun, ironbark timber stair treads, sandstone walls at the rear and polished concrete floors with exposed coloured glass and beach shells.



























Guided by a comprehensive cost plan and ongoing review of materials and details, the construction contract was within 10% of the $2m budget.

Bundeena Beach House, Sydney Australia

Bundeena Beach House, Sydney Australia

New Zealand Resort House

This Bundeena Beach House is sited on the dune fronting Horderns Beach, Bundeena, on the northern edge of the Royal National Park, on Sydney’s south eastern fringe. The house is raised off the ground, set on steel posts driven into the dune, braced against a north-easterly sea swell that can, at times, send a surge of energy through the dune and into the building fabric. The house is designed to be both strong, and flexible - built of a composite steel/ timber frame, clad in rough sawn plywood and corrugated iron.


Each room provides a framework for a different set of experiences. The living rooms are positioned on the dune ridge to make the most of the stunning bay and ocean view. On the beach front a breezeway room sits protected from the morning glare of the water by operable timber louvred walls - and on the bush side, an open deck sits protected from a sometimes bracing breeze.



The main bedroom is perched above the living rooms, well back from the beach for privacy, commanding 360 of the bay, the bush and the hamlet of Bundeena. Another bedroom and an office on the ground floor are accessed via an open, roofed timber walkway – gently forcing visitors and occupants to experience the elements.
For the owner, a naturopath, it is at once a beach house, a home, a place of work, and a conduit to experiencing the environment.



The project is a collection of 15 stylish beach houses set in a pristine bushland setting. The site itself is just back from the beach and has stunning views of Port Hacking and Hastings Beach. What is unique about this development is that each house has been designed as if it were a stand-alone luxury designer home.

The Kayak House by Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects

The Kayak House by Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects

Resort House

This Kayak House was designed by Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects for an avid kayaker and his wife. Several years ago, the owners decided to sell their suburban tract home and move to the country, to live on the river. They chose a 4.5 acre site on the South Fork of the American River, overlooking one of the best kayak funs in Northern California. At the time of purchase, this particular lot was the last available empty and developable river site for over ten miles in either direction. Ultimately, the project design arose from an intersection of this spectacular site and the clients' own specific interests in kayaking, durability, ecology, and accessibility.






















The house is built as close to the river as code allows (5' above the 100-year floodline). Because the lot is extremely deep and narrow, this siting effectively splits the lot into two landscapes with very different characters - both in terms of terrain and public/private divisions. On the river side, there is a dramatic slope down to the water and back up the foothills across river.

Away from the river, the site is entirely private, with a level meadow extending several miles to the start of the foothills. The project diagram associates a different geometry with either side of the site.




















The owners wanted their house to be built to last 100+ years. This meant a dramatic deviation from conventional construction techniques typical of the region, which tend towards conventional wood framing. Instead, the house design employs construction techniques more typically associated with non-residential applications.



















Structurally, the house is extremely robust: a steel framework integrated with selected concrete block walls supports exposed metal decking and a metal roof. Interior finishes are similarly durable. Interior walls that are not concrete block are finished with douglas fir plywood; wet location casework is stainless steel (kitchen and bathrooms); and wet location floors and walls are limestone (bathrooms).



:: Project Name: Kayak House
:: Location of Site: Lotus, California, USA
:: Design Team: Collaboration: OPA (Luke Ogrydziak, Zoe Prillinger) and Maria Ogrydziak Architecture
:: Project Type: Single family house
:: Contractor/s: Louis Debret
:: Site Area: 4.5 acres
:: Built-up Area: 6477 sq. ft.
:: Date of completion: August 2007