Molonglo & Royffe.Flynn offices took over the design of Zacharitsa Live-Work, a small home-work-shop hybrid in Koukaki, housed within a typical post-war polykatoikia built in 1979.
-text by the authors
Zacharitsa is a home-work-shop hybrid, in Koukaki, Athens. Its design allows for uses beyond the domestic, hoping for interactions with the wider Koukaki neighbourhood as an exhibition space, a shop, a workshop, a place to write or a place to host dinner. Built in 1979, it began its life as a typical post-war polykatoikia (apartment building). The home was owned and occupied by a craftswoman who made and sold crafts for weddings and christenings.
Zacharitsa has been refurbished in collaboration with Royffe Flynn architects. The 86-square-metre space is split over three levels connected by a spiral staircase, including a mezzanine bedroom with a balcony, a flexible ground floor with a kitchen and live-work space, a subterranean bathroom with a large bath, and a shared courtyard.
The design approach has sought to respect the original building’s architecture and purpose, to fold in traditional techniques and salvaged materials and subtly merge modern amenities. The original steel spiral staircase, marble window sills and terrazzo floors have been stitched together with new terrazzo flooring and reclaimed marble patch-worked tiles. The kitchen’s reclaimed marble workbench and sink sit on brickwork and textured concrete cast on-site.
The subterranean bathroom’s new concrete bath sits on old and introduced marble tiles and slabs.
Facts & Credits
Project title Zacharitsa Live-Work
Project type Interior design | Apartment renovation
Architecture Molonglo & Royffe.Flynn
Location Koukaki, Athens
Builder KDI Contract
Photography Lorenzo Zandri