Greek architecture practice K-Studio built the six-bedroom Villa Mandra for a young couple to entertain their family and friends during the summer.Three simple volumes sit around a central courtyard space, furnished to accommodate outdoor dining with views of the pool and Aegean Sea.

To create a house that would allow guests to enjoy being outside throughout the day K-Studio needed to filter the overwhelming intensity of the climate by providing shade and protection from the elements. And although the house needed to accommodate a large number of guests K-Studio didn’t want to dominate the landscape with oversized volumes. Inspired by the humble complexity of the traditional island vernacular they reduced the architecture to 2 small traditionally whitewashed volumes and a third of stone dug from the site, built around a large ‘courtyard’ living area which is covered by an expansive but lightweight chestnut pergola. 

This courtyard becomes the focal point of the house, seamlessly connected to the living room and kitchen volumes and looking over the pool and gardens beyond. Beneath the pool garden are the private bedrooms, separated for privacy and quietly enjoying the uninterrupted view over the lower garden to the sea. Their separation further reduces the overall impact of the house and cleanly divides social and private space.

Key to the character of the house is the palette of traditional materials such as lime-wash, stone and wood that have been applied and engineered with contemporary techniques to create un-nostalgic architecture that bridges heritage and locality with contemporary life. Hand-built stone walls are sharply confident; traditionally rendered, round-edged volumes are perfectly flat and smooth. The customary chestnut pergola has been engineered to increase its structural integrity, to form a glue-lam beam lattice that sits lightly on the white volumes, shading and protecting the extensive courtyard beneath.