RETIRÉ ATHÉNIEN

The project ‘Retiré Athénien’ by architect Agis Mourelatos concerns the renovation of an apartment located on the 13th floor of an apartment building in the Chalandri area in Athens.

QOOP undertook to implement large and small-scale works on the project with common requirements, mainly in the rendering of the architect’s vision but also the importance of the details as a whole. These include the external canopy, the central core with metal cladding, the internal ceiling, the fireplace, the library, the external barbecue and various smaller interventions such as mobile furniture, shelves and mirrors.

The external canopy is a complex structure as a large part of it is cantilevered, combining metal elements of different types and sizes. The division by width into full/watertight -with cement board as filling material- and louvered -made of metal elements, added additional complexity to its design and construction. In the full section, the filling supports, the cable routes were provided, while a special study was needed for the leaks and water routes.

The metal core constitutes the central space of the apartment where the kitchen, the bathroom and the toilet are located. For its implementation, it was necessary to foresee the routing of the plumbing, electrical and air conditioning elements and to complete it in the corresponding phases of the project. The outer side was clad in 2mm black sheet metal sheets which were chosen by the architect per position, in order to highlight the unique iridescent form in each sheet that results from the extrusion of the metal due to temperature.

In the interior ceiling - which was constructed from a 80/20/2mm section - an important element of the design was the infrastructure of its support frame in order to fully maintain the distances and alignment of the louvers.

For the construction of the library, the pieces that make it up were designed for laser cutting in order to minimize visible welding, giving the implementation its simple design.

In the exterior barbecue, stainless steel sections and sheets were used, while the hidden support of the demanding cantilevered interior table was provided in collaboration with Olympic Marine, which implemented it.