Perianth Hotel | k-studio

The design of the 38 rooms is directly inspired by the history and character of the original Art
Deco building, and by the contemporary life of the ancient city in which it is located.

The main challenge of the project lay in the re-working of the layout of the building. Originally
built to house retail space, offices and apartments in an era that gave little thought to the future
legacy of buildings, the structure was arranged to suit the use intended at the time. The
resulting irregularity of the building's structure required an innovative approach to re-organising
the layout so that it's new use would work within it. More recently the building interior has been
stripped back leaving only the facade and structural elements to provide the clues to its history
and to direct our design decision making.

The rooms of the lower floors benefit from higher ceilings but as you rise through the building
the number of rooms on each level decreases as they increase in floor size to compensate for
less lofty ceiling heights. The top floor is then set back from the front of the building, which
allows for larger balconies as well as more extensive views across Athens. We reinvented the
floorplans, working around the columns and openings to create an unconventional system of
rooms and communal space that maximises the qualities of the building and minimises its
restrictions. As the building had already been internally stripped we worked to retain whatever
remained and to showcase them as valuable and vital elements of historical value. Moreover,
we used them as our guidelines for design decisions made elsewhere, for instance, the main
circulatory route of each floor has been designed to mirror the curve of the building's facade.
Our Athenian-inspired concept was to create a wider main ‘avenue’ from which smaller side
‘alleys’, each leading to 2 or 3 rooms, were set back, creating privacy and acoustic separation
for guests. The creative interpretation of the traditional hotel corridor to mimic the urban layout
of central Athens leads naturally to the creation of ‘neighbourhood squares’. These communal
spaces serve specific purposes on each floor, from dining room and lounge to wellness centre,
to work hub.

The restrictions of the irregular structural grid also means that each room has its own unique
character. Obliquely angled walls, left over nooks and crannies of space and varying ceiling
heights have been dealt with creatively to remove any sense of awkwardness or feeling of
tightness. Instead rooms are open and airy with playfully carved out shower rooms and storage
facilities that sit seamlessly within the space. The interior design is directly inspired by the
streamlined modernity of the architecture, with the curves and repetitive patterns of the facade
and balconies. The traditionally rendered facade has been introduced within the rooms,
wrapping the outer facing walls and bringing a hint of the external identity of the building inside.
The characteristic grey of this pigmented render was the starting point in putting together the palette of colours and materials in the rooms. The terrazzo flooring brings a cool lightness to the space; the classically heavier American walnut adds warmth and depth and the blush-pink.  velvet upholstery introduces a touch of glamour in keeping with the style of the building. The palette is amplified and complimented by a selection of bold, brutalist pieces of furniture and custom-designed brass accents.

Guests enjoy the tailored experience of staying in a building with a history and character that
has been respectfully preserved by the clarity and apparent simplicity of its new layout and
spatial distribution and enhanced by balancing the austerity of the old with the elegance of the
new.

Photography: Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann