Xerolithi Bolig by George Sinas is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award i Sølv in Arkitektur-, Bygnings- og Konstruktionsdesign Competition Category.

SølvArkitektur· 2021

Xerolithi Bolig

by George Sinas

Client: Sinas Architects

A' Design Award i Sølv Winner in Arkitektur Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #109707

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Xerolithi Bolig

Et hus, der falder ind i sit naturlige miljø. Stejle skråninger, spredte tornede buske, sammen med korte stenstøttemure, lokalt kaldet xerolithies skabt for længe siden til jorddyrkningsformål. Husets hovedfacader er dannet som xerolithies. Disse vægge, der har en lethed som bånd i luften og ser ud til at bevæge sig blidt tættere på og væk fra skråningen og uafhængigt af hinanden og danner opholdsrum imellem dem. Taget dækket af snavs og vegetation efterligner det naturlige landskab, hvilket gør huset næsten usynligt.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award i Sølv

Xerolithi Bolig er vinder af A' Design Award i Sølv, en usædvanligt prestigefyldt anerkendelse, der tildeles designs i topklasse, som er pragtfulde og imponerende. Sølvvinderne er enormt geniale og overordentlig kreative værker, der illustrerer deres designeres fremragende ekspertise, talent og skarpsindighed. Xerolithi Bolig forventes at være et vidunderligt udstillingsværk, der er bemærkelsesværdigt professionelt og dybt innovativt. Dette design, der har vundet A' Design Award i Sølv, er en højst bemærkelsesværdig, beundret opfindelse, som gavner og flytter grænserne for kunst, videnskab, design og teknologi. Xerolithi Bolig er en skabelse, som mange misunder, og som vækker begær, bringer positive følelser og antænder forundring og undren.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: When one thinks of the Greek Islands, stacked white boxes come to mind. The design challenged this morphological preconception, by imagining the main facades of the house as xerolithies, starting low and gradually developing a sufficient height. They move closer and away of the slope and independently from one another, forming spaces in between them.
The traditional bamboo pergola with its wooden raw beams in their natural color can be seen throughout the length of the house, inside and outside. The beams follow the curvy morphology, like vertebrae of a long spinal cord.
Dimensions & Packaging: The ground floor area of the house is 180sqm.
Additional 60sqm of basement area.
Tags: Architecture, Cycladic Architecture, Landscape Design, Integrated design, Summer House, Island Architecture, Greece, Aegean, Serifos, Planted Roof, Curves, Wavy Form, Stone
Production Technology: The outer shell of the structure is mainly stone. Exterior walls are 50cm thick. Concrete structural system.
Design Challenge: The hardest part of this design was taming the wavy morphology. Making it sensual yet keeping the layout of the house functional.
Inspiration: The main focus of the design was to create a house that blends in its natural environment. An environment comprised of steep dirt and gravel slopes, dressed with scattered wild thorny bushes, and beautiful large rock formations. Though the most important existing elements, were the short stone retaining walls, locally called xerolithies, created a long time ago for land cultivation purposes. These walls, usually not more than a meter in height formed flat stripes of land parallel to the slope and extended along the entire surface of the hillside.
The site with its xerolithies was the spark of inspiration.
Project Duration: The project was designed in 2015.
The contraction started in 2016 and lasted until 2018.
The house is situated in Kalo Ampeli, Serifos Island, Cyclades, Greece.
Operation Flow: All spaces have been placed sequentially to spread out as long and thin as possible. The main house is separated by the bedrooms in order to create a space for the main covered veranda along the long spine of the house.
Team Members: Leader Architect: George Sinas (Sinas Architects)
Team: Maria Mamoura
Interior Decoration: Olga Ktena
Image Credits: Photographer of all images: Yiorgos Kordakis
Drawings and Renderings and sketch: George Sinas