Located on Voukourestiou Street in the Athenian district of Kolonaki, The Social Hotel by OOAK Architects transforms a late-1960s public building into a contemporary boutique hotel through an intervention that balances preservation, urban engagement, and spatial renewal. The adaptive reuse project reinterprets the existing structure as a 24-room hospitality destination while maintaining a strong relationship with the surrounding city.
Located on Voukourestiou Street—one of Athens’ most established retail destinations, lined with Greek designer boutiques and international luxury brands—the hotel occupies a strategic position within the city’s cultural and commercial fabric. Conceived as a Radisson Individuals member hotel, the project is guided by the ambition to offer an authentic experience of Athens, balancing immersion in the city’s energetic everyday life with moments of quiet contemplation.
The intervention begins at street level, where the ground floor has been reimagined as a publicly accessible restaurant and bar with an independent entrance.
Rather than functioning exclusively as a hotel amenity, this space is conceived as an urban living room where visitors and residents naturally intersect, dissolving the boundary between hospitality and city life.
The openness of the ground floor reinforces the hotel’s relationship with its surroundings, encouraging social interaction and extending the public realm into the building.
Above, the atmosphere shifts deliberately toward tranquillity. Across seven floors, the guestrooms and suites are designed as calm, restorative environments that contrast with the intensity of the streets below.
A restrained palette of natural materials, many sourced from Greece, together with neutral tones, soft textures, and timeless forms, creates interiors that prioritise comfort, tactility, and understated elegance over decorative excess.
The building’s renewed identity is expressed through a crisp white façade that subtly references the fluting of the ancient Greek column while establishing a distinct contemporary presence.
Integrated planting introduces a living layer between the hotel and the city, acting simultaneously as a visual filter, a source of privacy, and a natural buffer that softens noise while contributing to the building’s environmental performance.
The architectural narrative culminates at the rooftop, where wellness spaces overlook Lycabettus Hill, reconnecting guests with the city’s landscape. Within walking distance of major museums, cultural institutions, and historic landmarks, The Social Hotel positions architecture as the medium through which visitors engage with Athens—embracing its sociability while providing a carefully crafted sanctuary at its centre.
Drawings
Facts & Credits
Project title The Social Hotel
Typology Adaptive Reuse, Hotel, Hospitality
Location Kolonaki, Athens, Greece
Total area 1367,06 m2
Lot area 184,06 m2
Status Completed, 2023
Architects OOAK architects (Johan Annerhed, Maria Papafigou)
Project architect Johan Annerhed
OOAK architects team Johan Annerhed, Maria Papafigou, Georgina Erotokritou
Mechanical engineer Alexandros Kamarinos
Project Manager Solidframe
Contractor BC Perigramma
Lighting designer IFI
Photography Yiorgos Kordakis, Dimitris Chachlas