Login
Registered users
White Pebble Suites is a new luxury suites complex on the beachfront of Pollonia village at Milos Island, Greece. The design concept behind the White Pebble Suites originates from the Cycladic topographical contours. The natural environment of the Aegean Sea dominated by sun, sea and wind, has created the distinctive forms of the island scenery, with the smoothly curved rocks over the sea. We envisaged the building’s shell like a rock smoothened by water and wind. The evolution of the concept lies on 2 crucial factors. The local architecture and the relation to the sea and the views. Milos Island has a strong local architecture tradition that we had to respect, maintain and incorporate into our design. We tried to extract the most distinctive characteristic of local architecture and build a contemporary architectural language based on them. The three principal aspects that we extracted are the white building surfaces, the smooth filleted corners on all volume edges and the fluidity of geome-tries and functions. These characteristics have been developed through time with local construction means and serve multiple purposes on providing the most fitted shelter to local weather conditions. The project is located at a seafront plot overlooking the sea and the neighbouring island of Kimolos. Sea views were a crucial parameter to the design. All 12 rooms needed to have a main opening with a direct view to the sea. A ‘V’ shape layout was chosen for the narrow triangular plot. "Water element" penetrates the plot, "pushing" the built part aside, leaving the middle part for the common area. Thus, the common area is protected from the strong winds. Adhering to the local building regulations, that prescribe script morphological rules conforming to traditional styles, all buildings are covered in white plaster, a typical technique in vernacular island architecture. All floors are covered in forged cement, creating a fluidity between interior and exterior. First floor is offseted to the ground floor, creating narrow linear gardens. These gardens bring nature to the upper floor and offer privacy to the rooms. Linear gardens are found also at the ground level. Carefully selected plants of the Mediterranean flora create privacy from the passing visitor, without blocking the views. The entrance of the complex is from the road, where the visitor enters at a higher level and gradually discovers the common area and enjoys the full opening towards the view. As the intense sunlight falls on the white continuous curvy walls, it constantly alters the perception of the exterior volumes of the building, and an interplay of shadows and light takes place throughout the day. Protection from the sunlight is provided by metallic-framed pergolas covered by rows of thick rope, that create distinctive patterns of shade. The linear arrangement of spaces and uses has been extended into the interior space of the rooms. There, curvy walls along with built-in furniture organize the different uses of the rooms and provide an organic aesthetic to the design. Although materials and construction techniques are consistent with traditional building methods, computational design has been applied to the architectural synthesis, providing the whole project with an elegant mixture of intimate and contemporary aesthetics.
KKMK Architects was founded by the architects Kate Karagianni and Marina Karamali in 2017. The studio engages in projects of various scales, and purposes. Ranging from landscape and building architecture to interior design, set design, ephemeral installations, and product design.
Based in Athens, Greece, KKMK Architects have been involved in projects in Greece, UK and Australia. The studio has been busy in search of new geometric formations that evolve through the research on the notions of minimalism, deconstruction, in between and fluidity. The use of materials and layers and light is crucial for the experience of space.
Design and construction is based on the use of cutting-edge technology and computational techniques such as 3D printing, CNC-milling and laser-cutting. "Our architecture is highlighted by the ability to comprise our research into the realization of our projects."
