Zacharitsa 27 is a home-work-shop hybrid, in Koukaki, Athens. Its design allows for uses beyond the domestic, hoping for interactions with the wider Koukaki neighbourhood as an exhibition space, a shop, a workshop, a place to write or a place to host dinner. A short walk to the scenic trails of Filopappou Hill with panoramic views of the city.
Split over three levels connected by a spiral staircase, the space includes a mezzanine bedroom with a balcony, a flexible ground floor with a kitchen and live-work space, a subterranean bathroom with a big bath, and a shared courtyard. Its direct connection with the street allows for uses beyond the domestic, such as an exhibition space, a shop, a workshop, a place to write or a place to host dinner.
The original steel spiral staircase, marble window sills and terrazzo floors are interwoven with new terrazzo flooring and reclaimed marble patchworked tiles. The kitchen’s reclaimed marble workbench and sink sit on brickwork and textured concrete cast on-site. The subterranean bathroom’s new concrete bath sits on old and introduced marble tiles and slabs. The space is furnished with found European mid-century furniture, objects and artworks sourced or made locally, and shared with plants chosen by Kopria plant shop.
Zacharitsa Live-Work began its life as part of a typical post-war polykatoikia (apartment building), built in 1979. It was owned and occupied by a craftswoman who made and sold crafts for weddings and christenings. A recent refurbishment in collaboration with London-based architecture practice Royffe Flynn pays respect to the building’s original architecture and purpose, while updating with modern amenities.
