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French studio Ciguë drew on Greek modernism when creating the interior of Ace Hotel and Swim Club Athens, which features vintage furniture and specially commissioned artworks by local artists. More
Greek architecture offices K-Studio and Monogon have converted the abandoned Manna Sanatorium in Arcadia, southern Greece, into a luxury forest hotel.
Originally built in the 1920s to give tuberculosis patients access to the healing power of nature, the historic structure is now a five-star wellness retreat.
Manna offers 32 rooms fitted out with natural materials and neutral tones, plus gym and spa facilities and a restaurant focused on local produce.
Manna hotel is housed in a former sanatorium for tuberculosis patientsThe building sits within a fir forest on Mount Mainalo, the tallest peak in the mountainous region.
The design vision set out by Athens-based K-Studio was to amplify the sense of sanctuary offered by the remote location and enhance the feeling of connection to nature.
Manna owner Stratis Batayas, a Greek entrepreneur who had spent his childhood summers in the area, wanted to create a year-round destination that stayed true to the building’s history.
The building is set in a fir forest in Arcadia, a mountainous region of Greece”The client’s ambition was to reinterpret the concept of a sanctuary in the mountains with contemporary terms,” reads K-Studio’s design statement.
“The hotel would have to be a place for isolation, as well as community-making and participation in the primary activities of everyday living.”
Design details include columns with curved corner reveals and ornate gridded ceilingsThe renovation was overseen in collaboration with Athens-based Monogon and involved significant building work, including the reconstruction of a derelict rear wing and the installation of a new roof.
When the sanatorium closed – made obsolete following the introduction of penicillin in 1938 – the building had been emptied to prevent looting. Stone window sills were stripped out and relocated, while the original roof was removed and repurposed on a hospital in nearby Tripoli.
Concrete was used to replace the old sills, while the new timber roof was installed over rendered brickwork.
The bar features neatly crafted joineryA reconfigured layout provides a new entrance on the side of the building.
This leads through into a series of elegant reception and lounge spaces where details include columns with curved corner reveals, ornate gridded ceilings and a herringbone-patterned fireplace.
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Manna’s bar can also be found here, featuring neatly crafted joinery. Elsewhere, the restaurant run by chef Athinagoras Kostakos has a more casual feel thanks to an open kitchen.
Art is present throughout, with works by Greek artist Nikos Kanoglou, painter Joanna Burtenshaw and ceramicist Diane Alexandre.
Attic bedrooms feature dormer balconiesBedrooms are located on the upper floors of the main building, including a new attic level, and on all levels of the rebuilt northern wing.
Attic rooms offer the most modern feel, extending out to balconies set within large gable-ended dormers.
Interiors feature natural materials and neutral tonesThe materials palette combines brushed timber with earth-toned textiles. Standout features include the elaborate privacy screens that form a backdrop to the beds.
Terrazzo flooring is inlaid with marble to define different zones, matching the stone used for wash basins. Room numbers are carved into the floor surfaces in front of each room entrance.
“Local craftsmen were involved in all construction phases, as they bear the knowhow of stoneworks, joinery and even the characteristic engraved grouting of the exterior stonewalls,” said K-Studio.
Terrazzo flooring is inlaid with marble to define zonesManna opened its doors in the summer of 2023 and is represented by Design Hotels, a booking company that specialises in design-led retreats.
K-Studio co-founder Dimitris Karampataki presented the project at the 2023 edition of The Lobby, an annual hospitality conference in Copenhagen.
Manna’s restaurant features an open kitchenHe said the design for Manna “embraces the wear and tear, embraces the natural patina”.
“When we first arrived we saw something, which took about a century to make,” he said. “We didn’t want to clean it too much, to be selective of its heritage. It was more important for us to embrace the whole story.”
The design aims to reconnect people with natureOther destination hotels to open recently include the Six Senses Rome, designed by Patricia Urquiola, and the Sanya Wellness Retreat in Hainan, China, designed by Neri&Hu.
The photography is by Ana Santl.
Project credits
Architectural concept: K-StudioTechnical design: Monogon, CS ArchitectureOn-site supervison: Monogon, K-StudioFF&E: K-Studio, MonogonArt curation: Joanna BurtenshawBranding design: MNPSurveyor: Ioannis CharbilasStructural engineer: Niki PsillaMechanical engineer: Gerasimos Vasilatos/Alexandra Zachopoulou & PartnersLighting design: Eleftheria Deko and Associates Lighting DesignSound consultant: Alpha AcoustikiKitchen consultant: XenexLandscape architects: H Pangalou & AssociatesMain contractor: CT Construction
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Paris-based Mariette Sans-Rival Studio has used floor-to-ceiling curtains, brass lighting and custom furniture to fit out this boutique hotel, set across two Bauhaus-style buildings in the centre of Athens.
Studio founder Mariette Sans-Rival, whose background is in set design, took references from Greek seafaring culture when designing the interiors for the Apollo Palm hotel.
The whitewashed buildings of the Apollo Palm hotel surround a secluded courtyard”As my first architecture and interior design project, I leaned heavily on my background in the world of opera and live theatre to create a unique perspective, drawing parallels between set scenography and an inviting hotel atmosphere,” said Sans-Rival.
Situated in the lively Psyrri neighbourhood, close to the city’s ancient Agora and Acropolis, the 48-key property is intended as a refuge for travellers and locals alike.
Two neighbouring buildings were combined to create the hotelTo house the Apollo Palm hotel, Sans-Rival combined a pair of white-washed 20th-century buildings while creating a secluded courtyard at the centre, where guests can enjoy drinks and fare from the Patio Wine Bar and Bistro in the shade of palm fronds.
A cocktail bar on the roof, which also serves brunch at the weekend, has an unobstructed view of the Acropolis and hosts music events, cinema nights and sunset parties.
The hotel features a curved reception desk wrapped in brassDuring the renovation of the Bauhaus-style buildings, which feature clean lines and curved balconies, the studio also restored a large stained-glass window that spans multiple floors.
A curved reception desk wrapped in brass matches the lighting fixtures found throughout the Apollo Palm hotel, washing spaces in a golden glow.
Mariette Sans-Rival custom-designed the Lucie chairs for the hotel”I was challenged to create emotions through a narrative vision in an entirely new setting, building stories into the nascent place and developing recurring patterns to make the hotel autonomous and alive,” said the designer.
In the guest rooms, floor-to-ceiling drapery billows over the large windows and in some spaces also continues around the walls.
Drapery features heavily throughout the guest roomsTheir largely white-and-cream colour scheme is accented with sunny yellow, soft peach or pale green, used across the bedding, upholstery and plush carpets.
Some of the rooms feature mirrored walls behind the beds, while others are furnished with reflective desks and vanities.
House of Shila designs industrial yet sultry interiors for Mona Athens hotel
Sans-Rival custom-designed much of Apollo Palm’s furniture, including the Lucie range of chairs and stools that are typified by geometric cutouts in their colourful wooden frames.
“I started drawing unusual shapes, which ultimately led to the exclusive Lucie collection of furniture created for the hotel,” she said.
Peach and pink tones feature in another guest bedroomLater this year, the hotel will also open a late-night bar and music venue named Studio Olala, which will be open to both guests and locals and available to hire for private events.
Athens is currently experiencing a boom in its creative scene, as artists flock to the city for the fair weather and relatively cheap cost of living, as well as an increase in tourism from those choosing to stay longer when in transit to the popular Greek islands.
Guests can enjoy drinks and fare from Apollo Palm’s courtyard cafeAs a result, the city has seen a wave of new hotels including the industrial yet sultry Mona Athens, and the Esperinos guesthouse filled with local artworks and modern furniture.
The photography is by Jules Lanzaro.
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The ancient Acropolis of Athens is in full view from the rooftop of this boutique hotel, which design studio House of Shila has housed in a former factory building.
Mona Athens is located in the city’s lively Psirri district, within an eight-storey 1950s building that once served as a textile factory.
The Mona Athens lobby features an eclectic mix of furniture and decorHouse of Shila, led by New York-based entrepreneur Shai Antebi and Greek photographer and creative director Eftihia Stefanidi, chose to keep as much of the building’s bones as possible when converting it into a 20-key hotel.
This meant retaining its original dramatic iron staircase, terrazzo flooring, metal window frames and marble facade.
The spilt-level communal space houses a lounge and cafe”We designed Mona with great respect for the building’s 1950s architecture,” said Stefanidi.
“The structure itself remains unchanged, revealing 70 years of history. Emphasis was given to preserving original features.”
House of Shila retained as many of the building’s original details as possibleLayering over industrial materials like exposed concrete and weathering steel, the team added wooden furniture and textured fabrics to bring warmth and tactility to the spaces throughout.
Accessed from the street, the 200-square-metre split-level lobby serves as a lounge and a cafe that can host pop-up events and installations.
A variety of textured materials are layered over the building’s industrial bonesAn eclectic mix of furniture and decor populate the space, which can be opened to the outside via full-height folding glass doors.
The hotel’s six different room categories range from intimate rooms of around 16 to 20 square metres all the way up to the 55-square-metre penthouses and Mona’s Suite, with some of the larger rooms providing access to private balconies and patios.
Wash areas are open to the sleeping quarters in many of the roomsAll feature a similar sultry-meets-industrial aesthetic, which House of Shila compares to a “sensual refuge”, characterised by curtains of sheer cotton and richly-coloured velvet, low minimalist beds, custom-knitted carpets and soft lighting from bespoke fixtures.
In the majority of the guest rooms, the washing areas are open to the sleeping quarters – with separate water closets for privacy – and some feature comfy lounge seating.
Larger suites have access to porches, balconies and patiosWhite freestanding Corian bathtubs and industrial-style rain showers are shrouded by translucent curtains, creating a “certain balance of comfort and drama”, according to the design studio.
The open rooftop offers a direct view of the Parthenon and other structures atop the Acropolis, the UNESCO-listed epicentre of Ancient Greece, while the tourist entrance to the site is a 15-minute walk from the hotel.
Raw concrete penthouse and event space created inside former Athens warehouse
Reserved for Mona Athens guests and members, this outdoor space includes a long glass-and-metal communal table, cushioned sofas, outdoor showers, lush planting and a bar that serves cocktails and “eclectic fare” with ingredients sourced from the local food market.
There’s also a speakeasy venue in the basement, where pop-up exhibitions and private events can take place.
Freestanding Corian bathtubs are set against weathering steelAll of the decorative items in the rooms are available for guests to purchase, from the organic cotton bedsheets to the ceramic coffee cups.
Antebi’s background is in real estate development while Stefanidi was previously the creative director for immersive entertainment company Secret Cinema.
The rooftop is reserved for hotel guests and membersThe duo founded House of Shila after working together on their first hospitality project Shila – another boutique hotel-cum-arts venue in Athens’ Kolonaki neighbourhood.
Once a quick stopover for tourists on the way to the Greek islands, the capital is becoming a popular destination for city breaks in its own right, thanks to its rich history, growing culinary scene, year-round fair weather and relative affordability.
A prime view of the Acropolis can be enjoyed from the roofThe owner of Carwan Gallery described Athens as “the new Berlin” when the contemporary design gallery relocated there from Beirut in 2020.
Several boutique hotels have opened or undergone renovation in the downtown area over the past few years, including the neo-modernist Perianth Hotel and the Evripidis Hotel, which received a new rooftop bar and breakfast room.
The photography is by Ana Santl.
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Cave-like suites and a yoga studio with an arching bamboo roof feature inside this wellness hotel on the Greek island of Crete, which local hoteliers Danae and Konstantina Orfanake have perched on a rocky precipice above the sea.
The Orfanake sisters spent almost five years designing and developing the Arco Suites resort together with Athenian architecture office Utopia Hotel Design and interior designer Manos Kipritidis.
Arco Suites is set on a cliffside in Crete’s Mononaftis bayThe complex accommodates 49 suites and villas in buildings constructed from locally sourced stone and wood, which were designed to blend into their surroundings along Crete’s Mononaftis bay.
Some of the stone was excavated directly on-site while the rest was sourced from Mount Ida, the highest mountain on the island.
The hotel overlooks the Aegean SeaEach of the hotel’s suites has its own private saltwater pool with views of the Aegean Sea and interiors finished in a palette of natural materials.
This ranges from raw silk bed covers to furnishings custom-made by local artisans using marble from nearby Feistos.
The hotel’s Cave Suites are carved out of the cliffsideSome of the suites were carved directly out of the cliffside, with parts of the rockface left exposed around the pool terraces and throughout the interiors to preserve their cave-like feel.
The stone walls also help to maintain a pleasant temperature all year round, reducing the need for heating and air conditioning.
The hotel’s external stone walls were crafted by Cretan sculptors, as were the custom-made clay light fixtures in the Cave Suites.
A thatched roof covers the Circle BarKipritidis worked closely with the Orfanake sisters on the design of the hotel’s Cremnos restaurant and the Circle cocktail bar.
Echoing the natural look of the suites, the restaurant is furnished with custom-made marble furniture, natural fabrics and copper and wood details.
KRAK Architects imagines subterranean house on Cretan coast
The Circle bar features a ceiling made from Makuti – a type of East African thatching that consists of sun-dried coconut palm leaves.
This natural material provides shade and sways in the breeze, creating a relaxing atmosphere.
The spa area combines wooden joinery with rough stone surfacesUtopia Hotel Design was brought in to help with the design of the in-house spa, which features an oval layout and smooth stone surfaces contrasted against roughly hewn walls and wooden doors.
The wellness area houses a Byzantine hammam, a Finnish sauna, two treatment rooms, an outdoor pool and a heated pool.
The spa contains an outdoor poolThe hotel’s Asana yoga studio is covered by an impressive arching roof that was custom made in Crete using wood and bamboo from Thailand.
Danae and Konstantina Orfanake are members of a prominent Cretan hotelier family. Arco Suites is the latest addition to their growing portfolio of resorts on the island.
The hotel’s yoga studio has an arching bamboo roofA number of other design studios have explored the idea of embedding buildings into the rugged topography of the Greek islands.
KRAK Architects recently developed a concept for an underground house with an infinity pool on Crete’s south coast. And on Mykonos, Kyriakos Tsolakis Architects has blended a wellness hotel into the surrounding hillside using stones excavated on-site.
The photography is by Giorgos Sfakianakis.
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3D-printed “broken” columns join walls and floors created with an adobe effect at the Egeo restaurant in Valencia by interiors studio Masquespacio that aims to put a modern spin on traditional Greek architecture.
Masquespacio created the interiors for the Egeo Greek restaurant, which is spread across one floor and characterised by a blue and off-white colour palette that is reminiscent of many Greek houses.
A blue and white colour palette defines the spaceEgeo features a cavernous interior with microcement-coated seating areas and walls carved from curvy shapes punctuated by statement blue columns.
The Mortex used for these walls and floors intends to give the space an adobe effect.
It features 3D-printed columnsFractured into two pieces, the restaurant’s columns were created using 3D printing and are fitted with tubular lighting that connects each piece together.
“We wanted to recreate the concept of a broken column from the past, but uplift it with a contemporary look,” Masquespacio co-founder Christophe Penasse told Dezeen.
Wooden stools provide seating areasWooden stools resembling chunky chess pieces are scattered around built-in metal and wooden tables in the various seating areas arranged across the restaurant.
Sconce lights were attached to decorative organic shapes that protrude from the walls while olive trees sit in large, neutrally-hued pots.
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A central ordering bar was designed to recreate the atmosphere of a bustling market where you might order traditional souvlaki from a mobile vendor, according to Masquespacio.
“The restaurant was inspired by Greece’s ancient architecture – from its typical white and blue houses to the ruins that are part of its important foundations in our world,” explained Penasse.
A central bar intends to give the restaurant a lively feelThe eatery is the first Egeo branch in Valencia, although the chain already has two similar locations in Madrid.
Based in Valencia, Masquespacio was founded in 2010 by Penasse and Ana Milena Hernández Palacio.
Similar projects in Spain by the studio include another cavernous restaurant that nods to adobe architecture and an eatery with curved forms that take cues from the nearby Pyrenees mountains.
The photography is by Sebastian Erras.
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Raw concrete walls serve as a backdrop to vintage furnishings in this rentable venue and guest suite that Studio Andrew Trotter has created within a converted 1970s industrial building in Athens, Greece. More
Greek architecture firm Point Supreme has transformed a semi-basement storage space in Athens into a small one-bedroom home. More
Stone excavated on the site was used to build this wellness hotel for athletes on the Greek island of Mykonos, which was designed by London- and Cyprus-based practice Kyriakos Tsolakis Architects. More
