Farmhouse
Renovation of a rural house and design of a new residence for an extended family.
(ONGOING)
Right outside the village of Oinoi in the region of West Attica and in contact with the forest on the foot of the mountain Kithairon, is a plot of about 21 acres with an existing rural house built in the early 1980s. In recent years, the owners decided to move there permanently and engage with the beautiful productive landscape that surrounds it, with its vineyards, olive groves, flowers and vegetable garden.
Overall the project includes a series of landscape interventions, the renovation of the existing house and the construction of a new, autonomous residence of approximately the same size (110m2). The first stage, a new masterplan organises the site based on the introduction of new crops, the circulation of agricultural machinery and infrastructure, a series of new warehouses and other auxiliary spaces, resting areas and, of course, the location of the new residence. The plot was divided into four distinct zones, each of a distinct character. The north peak of the plot is left untouched, restoring the natural slopes and tending to the pine trees of the adjacent forest to grow naturally. The domestic zone includes the two houses and occupies the area south of the pine trees, while on its other edge the masterplan introduces an ‘urban garden,’ a ‘domestic garden,’ an interplay of flowerbeds, water features, and vegetable gardens. Finally, the productive landscape dominates the largest, south part of the plot with the gridded olive groves, the vineyards and agricultural infrastructure.
The design of the new house emerged after a study of farmhouses, silos and other industrial and agricultural typologies in Greece and abroad. An equilateral L-shape covered by a pitched roof opens towards the south. Two exterior stone walls, roughly plastered and painted in off-white, organise the outline of the building, while a series of sliding openings create zones of shading and privacy. All dimensions of both the basic structure and the openings are standardised to minimise the construction costs and achieve a structural and material clarity.