The 150-square-metre Villa Ypsilon was designed by London and Brussels-based architects Theo Sarantoglou Lalis and Dora Sweijd from LASSA Architects in an olive grove on Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula. This summer residence is characterized by an Ypsilon shaped green roof that acts as both an accessible extension of the terrain, while framing the most significant views from the inside out.
The roof’s bifurcating pathways define three courtyards that form distinct hemispheres with specific occupancy depending on the course of the sun. The house is located on the top of a hill which provides vistas towards the bay of Schiza and Sapientza as well as mountain views towards the east. The height of the house is limited to the tip of the olive trees to enable its integration with the surrounding landscape.
Inside, three bedrooms and a pair of bathrooms are set towards the east, while the open-planning living space occupies the south and has access to all three courtyards.
The circulation through, around and on top of the house forms a continuous promenade comprising indoor and outdoor activities. The form of the concrete shell coupled with the planted roof and cross ventilation strategy provides an environmental response which prevents the need for mechanical cooling systems. The remote location of the project in combination with the limited budget and non-standard geometry induced a construction strategy that called for a large amount of off-site prefabrication and self-assembly which allowed to reduce the construction time to 7 months without compromising anything in terms of quality or exceeding the budget.
The architects bought a CNC machine to allow them to test out the non-standard forms found in the project. They prototyped the production of the concrete shell, the acoustic ceiling of the living room, custom window frames and furniture, and the pool lining using this technique.
“This ‘hands-on’ approach allowed for a minimal use of commercial ‘off-the-shelf’ products while instead favouring locally sourced materials such as concrete, terrazzo and marble,” explains Lalis.
all images © NAARO | H/t dezeen