Vertical Home

The Vertical Home is built in a neighborhood of Piraeus which used to have low-rise buildings in small lots. The area was rebuilt in the late 80s based on the new building regulations. Up to eight-story buildings are now found in these small lots for maximum use of space.

The Vertical Home is in fact a vertical set of three two-story apartments. Each one has unique design elements to accommodate the needs of its future residents. However, they all share the interior garden. This creates a relaxing area for the residents to escape the surrounding urban neighborhood of Piraeus which is densely built with high-rise buildings and rather noisy narrow streets. It provides privacy and integrates the apartments’ outdoor space in the building volume.

These three two-story residencies are designed, with three design principles in mind:

– Concrete bedroom core

– Fluid, double-height common areas and

– Inner garden

The concrete core

The concrete core contains the more private areas, the bedrooms, two for each residence. It is a vertical core, starting from the basement and reaching the 6th floor.

The fluid common areas

The larger remaining area outside concrete core is a fluid, double-height inner volume which is differentiated so as to accomodate the wishes of each resident.

Apart from the inner garden, it contains the kitchen, the sitting room and the stairs leading to the upper floor.

The inner gardens

These are double-height gardens, sculpted inside the building volume. They are either semi-outdoor areas, or, in the case of the 5th-6th floor residence, an enclosed veranda.