House Symbiosis Domus Duplex by Direction Architects

House Symbiosis Domus Duplex by Direction Architects is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 Praemium A' Design Award Argenteum in Architectura Competition Category.

ArgentumArchitectura· 2024

House Symbiosis Domus Duplex

by Direction Architects

Client: Direction Architects

Praemium A' Design Award Argenteum Winner in Architectura Category

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Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #159863

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The Design

About House Symbiosis Domus Duplex

Domus Symbiosis est habitatio duplex duabus familiis fraternis aedificata. Aedificium in parte posteriore areae angularis stat et formam litterae L in ichnographia efficit, spatium anterius apertum relinquens. Solum viginti septem centesimae areae aedificatione occupatae sunt, quod loca exteriora communia et viridia permittit. Utraque habitatio ducentos viginti metros quadratos continet, et nucleus communis octoginta quinque metrorum quadratorum duas domos coniungit. Frontes inter se translatae maeniana et structuras prominentes efficiunt, quae conspectum inter interiora limitant. Elementum sculpturale, taeniae simile, duplici curvatura in fronte interiore anteriore explicatur.

The Recognition

About the Praemium A' Design Award Argenteum

House Symbiosis Domus Duplex victor est Praemii A' Design Award Argenteum, honoris eximie amplissimi formis summi generis, pulchris et conspicuis dati. Victores Argenti opera valde splendida et creandi ingenio praedita sunt, quae praestantem peritiam, talentum et acumen auctorum suorum ostendunt. Exspectatur House Symbiosis Domus Duplex opus mirabile, exemplare, valde professionale et penitus novum fore. Haec forma Argento victa inventum notabile et admiratum est, quod ad fines artis, scientiae, formandi rationis et technologiae promovendos confert. House Symbiosis Domus Duplex creatio est, quam multi invident, quae cupiditates excitat, sensus bonos affert et admirationem miraculumque movet.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

Unique Properties: House Symbiosis is a double residency, designed to accommodate two sibling families seeking to foster close bonds while preserving individual privacy.

The house is located at the rear of a corner plot, forming an L shape in plan, leaving the front part as open space. The site allowed for a maximum of 40% plot coverage from which only the 27% was built. This planning approach shows an environmental conscious attitude to architecture, while allowing space for external communal areas for socialization as well as greenery.
Dimensions & Packaging: Project Areas

Total Housing Area: 440 sqm
Residence 1 Area: 220 sqm
Residence 2 Area: 220 sqm
Communal Core Area: 85 sqm

Underground Area: 185sqm
Building Site Coverage: 40%

Total Building are: 700 sqm
Site Area: 700 sqm
Tags: #housesymbiosis #directionarchitects #studionaaro
Production Technology: In terms of construction, the main structure was raised up level by level through various types of wooden formworks for concrete casting. In some cases, where there were double curved geometries, it was required the combination of multiple formworks in order to achieve them. A main sculptural element of the project is a ribbon-like geometry with parts of double curvature, which unfolds on the front inner facade of the building. In order to construct this complex geometry, a detailed formworking procedure was required with the usage of horizontal and vertical formworks.
Design Challenge: The main challenge of the project involved navigating the delicate equilibrium between privacy and socialization for the two families. Architectural experimentation with geometry, spatial orientation, facades and volumetric massing address this challenge. The volumetric displacement of facades generates balconies and cantilevers, strategically limiting visual contact between interiors and creating secluded outdoor spaces. A sculptural ribbon-like geometry on the front inner facade creates an impression of a moving structure.
Research: In a fast paced ever changing world, what matters most is spending more time with the people that we care about. The main scope of the brief was to create a new typology for a double residency to shelter two sibling families, that want to spend more time together, while in the same time maintain their own private spaces. As a result, House Symbiosis, was born.
Inspiration: House Symbiosis gain inspiration from the yacht, aerospaceship and automotive industries. In the same time the project is also designed as a statement of freedom. From a close-up experience, it gives the impression of a structure, floating somewhere between sky and sea.

The project responds to the evolving demands of contemporary living, emphasizing familial bonds and offering a nuanced balance between communal and individual living.
Project Duration: The project is located in a residential neighbourhood in Athens, Greece. The project's design period started during half way of 2018 and was completed in early 2019. A long project planning period followed the same year. The project started construction alongside the pandemic in March 2020 and finished around the end of 2022, with final touches happening in the beginning of 2023. The project was furnished in early 2023 and photographed by a professional photographer in May 2023.
Operation Flow: The project's emphasis on internal circulation drove the design process, adopting a sculptural tectonic approach reflected in the volumetric massing of the final structure. The resulting curvilinear formal language imparts a sense of dynamism and motion to the living spaces. The house gives the impression of heading towards two opposite directions.
Team Members: Architecture: Direction Architects
Architect Designer: John Kanakas
Architect Engineer: Kostas Christopoulos
Image Credits: Studio Naaro