A Holiday Home in the Mediterranean Takes Cues From a Nearby Castle

Architect Alexis Papadopoulos designs an airy counterpart to a medieval tower using prefab panels, timber, and windows that open wide to the landscape.

Feb 8, 2022 - 00:51

A Holiday Home in the Mediterranean Takes Cues From a Nearby Castle

Architect Alexis Papadopoulos designs an airy counterpart to a medieval tower using prefab panels, timber, and windows that open wide to the landscape.

Named The Koulas Project, this 1,830-square-foot house is made up of two distinct volumes. One stretches out across a single story, while the other is arranged vertically and includes three levels. With its boxy form and rectangular windows, it references the tower of a nearby medieval castle, which is visible from the home.

"We had to be careful in the way that we referred to the castle," says architect Alexis Papadopoulos, whose work often responds to its context. "It needed to be strong and unquestionable without falling into the traps of superficial imitation." Papadopoulos was also mindful of building around the plot’s mature olive trees, but positioned windows to create vignettes of the surrounds.