Local Local completes "contemporary and playful" renovation of neoclassical Athens townhouse
Brightly coloured furniture and quirky finishes add character to the otherwise minimal interior of this historic townhouse in Athens, Greece, which has been modernised by architecture studio Local Local.
Architect Sofia Xanthakou's Athens-based practice was asked to oversee the renovation of the neoclassical home, which was built in the 19th century on a narrow alleyway in the city's Plaka neighbourhood.
The contextually sensitive renovation evokes Plaka's eclectic architecture, which mixes neoclassical and Ottoman-era buildings with Byzantine and Roman influences.
The city's conservation laws restricted any structural interventions to the listed building, so Xanthakou used locally inspired materials and patterns to improve the home's liveability.
"With a layered heritage and proximity to the Acropolis, we worked to reconnect the home to its context through a lighter, more open interior expression," she explained.
While respecting the building's historic character, Xanthakou also introduced what she describes as "contemporary and playful gestures that invite light, warmth and everyday family life back into the home".
The architects began by stripping away the glossy marble and heavy wood finishes added during renovations by previous owners in the 1990s.
The refurbished interior features an almost entirely white, monochromatic palette, aimed at maximising the available natural light in spaces with thick stone walls and limited window openings.
Wherever possible, Local Local looked to preserve historic features such as the wrought-iron railings on the facades, as well as wooden panelled doors with marble jambs that were repainted to create a more cohesive aesthetic.
Flooring throughout adds character to the spaces, with a bold red terrazzo bringing warmth and contrast to the ground-floor living room, family room and office.
The kitchen and bathrooms feature a lighter, soft-grey terrazzo that reflects light in these compact spaces, while the flooring in the upstairs bedrooms was replaced with light-grey oak that adds a more contemporary feel.
The house's front door opens into a hallway where the existing dark wooden staircase was painted to create a lighter, more modern expression that complements the grey flooring used elsewhere.
An opening to the right of the entrance leads into the main living area, organised around a fireplace that was reconstructed using green marble from the island of Tinos.
At one end of the living space, steps lead from the dining area up to a kitchen that was given a modern makeover with colourful furniture and bespoke joinery.
Local Local installed cornicing and added curtains to the glass-fronted cupboards, as well as a custom-designed green dining table and their own bold red dining chairs.
The architects worked with local artisans to craft several bespoke items for the project, including bookshelves, radiator covers, skirting boards and joinery elements that reference classical forms, while performing functions required for modern living.
The house also includes a tranquil stone-paved courtyard that was restored by pruning overgrown trees and repairing the existing walls.
Rooftop terraces on the other side of the house offer a view across the rooftops towards the Acropolis.
Xanthakou founded her practice after completing her undergraduate degree at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture and a master's in Design Studies at Harvard University.
The studio adopts a contextually sensitive approach to designing and transforming buildings, actively reinterpreting a site's nuances in order to create experiences that feel rooted in the surroundings.
Athens hosts a rich variety of dwellings, from a one-bedroom apartment by Point Supreme set within a former semi-basement storage space to a poured concrete house by Kallos Turin.
The photography is by Lorenzo Zandri.
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