In the Shifting Wall Apartment, OA-STUDIO investigates how a single, hybrid architectural move can redefine domestic space. A floor-to-ceiling sliding element, part wall, part door, becomes the project’s conceptual and spatial anchor. Conceived as an economical but strategic gesture, it blurs the line between the apartment’s pre-existing and renovated condition and enables a more open, light-filled reading of the space.
Can a sliding door convincingly operate as a complete architectural intervention?
The project originated from a fragmented condition: partial demolitions, retained structural and service elements and circulation paths.
Rather than masking these inconsistencies through comprehensive reconstruction, the design embraces them as part of the spatial narrative.
The renovation introduces a deliberately ambiguous element, a floor-to-ceiling sliding wall, positioned precisely at the intersection of old and new.
Neither fully wall nor purely door, the element operates as a hybrid. This condition produces a continuous surface that shifts between separation and connection, allowing spaces to expand or contract without ever fully resolving into fixed rooms. The result is the suggestion of a larger, more cohesive apartment.
This singular intervention establishes a new spatial logic.
When open, the sliding wall unifies living, dining and circulation zones, allowing natural light to penetrate deeper into the interior. When closed, it maintains intimacy without severing visual continuity. The promise of openness is always present, lending the apartment a sense of scale that exceeds its actual footprint.
Supporting this reorganization, an oversized kitchen that previously dominated the plan was removed. In its place, the kitchen is reconfigured into three compact, furniture-like volumes. This strategy reinforces the reading of the interior as a continuous field rather than a sequence of enclosed rooms, allowing daily activities to coexist within a fluid spatial framework.
Ultimately, the Shifting Wall Apartment demonstrates how restraint can be generative. By focusing on a single, carefully calibrated gesture, the project reveals architecture’s capacity to transform space through perception, movement, and ambiguity, proving that sometimes, one wall is enough.
Facts & Credits
Project title Shifting Wall Apartment
Typology Interior, Renovation
Location Athens, Greece
Architecture OA-STUDIO
Area 70sm
Year of Completion 2025
Photography Vasso Paraschi
Text provided by the architects
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