Text description provided by the architects. The introverted plot of 380 m2 used to host an existing building of 80 m2. The client’s brief included an extension to augment the plan size, adjusting to the needs of a family of four, as well as appropriate outdoor space and a pool. Located near Agios Nikolaos, eastern Crete, the structure encounters intense heat during summertime, which is considered and cared for during the design process.
Transformation is mainly achieved through the careful addition of a steel-frame structure and pergolas extending to the outdoor spaces. The latter, while functioning as a bioclimatic design tool, offers spaces of different qualities depending on the season. Semi-outdoor spaces, where the pergola is watertight and offer shade in the summer months. During wintertime, these spaces allow sunlight to enter the residence and north-south permeability is allowed for optimum air circulation in and around the house all year long. The vocabulary of the extension proposal is expressed through a triptych of interdependent design decisions surrounding the existing building at the northeast of the site, the load-bearing structure of which is completely maintained.
Firstly, a solid volume is placed on the northwest side of the plot, creating the master bedroom while defining the area of the pool and the main outdoor space of the house on the south. Referencing the contemporary building style in Crete, this new volume matches the architectural simplicity of the existing building, both in structure and finishes, which include natural paints. The second steel-frame addition is made on the roof of the existing house, with the purpose to host an ensuite bedroom with office space. A sliding wall offers privacy as it isolates the bedroom from the rest of the house, making the office space comfortably functional for both children of the family. A variety of views can be found at this space, thanks to the volume’s orientation.
A pergola with a surface area of 85m2 and a smaller south-facing one on the first floor are added as the third and final design move. These exposed steel-frame structures host wood planks and offer a permeable shading solution while not concealing the blue Mediterranean sky. Surrounding the living spaces, this structure is in contact with the existing building, unifying the indoor and outdoor spaces and expanding the living spaces of the residence both visually and in materiality.
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Cite: “Pergola House / Entopos Architects” 10 Aug 2024. ArchDaily. Accessed .
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