Cocoon Villas - Chersonisos, Crete | 3+ architecture

* Within the boundaries of a purely tourist settlement on the northern coast of Crete, the refurbishment of a group of 4 incomplete residences, without existing landforms, and their conversion into a complex of luxury holiday villas, led to contemporary architectural approaches in a seemingly unaltered shell, by re-developing the dialogue with the landscape at varying scales.

The natural terrain, among olive trees and in sparse or no vegetation, is uphill from the road level, with a rapid incline in its middle and milder at the top, where the residences are located.

Due to the limited ability of intervention in the building shells, elements that have the character of "mantle" are used, contributing to the reformation of the volume of each dwelling, but also offering the most favorable sustainable function. The openings on the compact pre-existing facades are diversified as much as possible, to achieve better constant lighting and ventilation and to accommodate the functions of the spaces that they belong.  A metal pergola defines areas of resting and living for all day habitation.

The internal walls that existed, are largely deconstructed. On the ground floor they are eliminated, to create a single, open plan, while in the upper floor the walls delimit two independent, full equipped bedrooms.

The external area of each residence is shaped as a large yard with a swimming pool, incorporating elements of rest and vegetation, thus maximizing the house, while the visual proximity to the living room intensifies its contact with the outside.

In the surrounding area, new engravings are formed, that organize accesses to the dwellings and the ensuing facilities, creating the approximation of a small island settlement, through pedestrian walkways, staircases, and elevations, as well as delimited areas of planting or small kites. These formations signify beyond the entrance to the dwellings, a path to resting and living areas in each house and yard, and finally the view to the sea.

The austere volumes of the buildings combined with the white color and the geometry that prevails in each scale, achieve plasticity and attribute architectural unity that responds to the contemporary holiday habitation, and also create a constant contact with the landscape, a reference to Cycladic cubism. 

Project Info:

Architectural Design - Interior Design by : Anna Garefalaki/ 3+ architecture 

Structural Engineering : George Sirigonakis

3D Visualization: Helix ImageWorks 3D Visualization

Assistant Architect (student): Maria Xekardaki 

Location: Chersonisos, Crete, Greece

Total building area: 400m2 

Site area: 3600 m2

Year of study completion: 2018

Project info: under construction