Ioanna Vlachaki

SIK54 explores the architectural potential embedded within residual geometry. Conceived within the existing shell of a semi-basement apartment in a 1960s residential building in Kypseli, Athens, the project develops a continuous architectural framework where space, furniture, storage and infrastructure belong to the same design system. Existing recesses, structural thicknesses and irregular geometries acquire new spatial purpose through occupation, allowing working, living and making to coexist within a compact yet open-ended environment.

Within only forty square metres, the project accommodates a workplace, studio, archive, guest room and domestic functions without assigning a permanent hierarchy to any of them. The plan is organised around two interconnected spatial zones linked by a sliding partition of wired glass framed in deep olive-green steel. The translucent screen preserves visual continuity, diffuses daylight throughout the interior and allows the programme to shift effortlessly between collective and private occupation while maintaining the perception of a single architectural space.

The intervention embraces the existing geometry as its primary design resource. Every recess, structural projection and residual void becomes part of a continuous architectural occupation. Lacquered storage volumes, integrated seating, plywood cabinetry and compact architectural elements are positioned precisely where the building already suggested their presence. Instead of introducing autonomous furniture, the project establishes a built infrastructure that absorbs storage, circulation and everyday use into the thickness of the architecture itself. Each intervention performs multiple roles, allowing the interior to remain visually calm while accommodating an unexpectedly broad range of activities.

This continuity extends across every scale of the project. Architectural volumes, joinery, furniture, material junctions and objects are conceived simultaneously as parts of one coherent composition rather than independent design exercises. The distinction between architecture and furniture gradually dissolves, allowing every built element to contribute equally to the spatial experience. Design is understood as a continuous process of integration, where material, proportion and occupation operate within the same architectural language.

Materiality reinforces this sense of continuity through a restrained palette of painted concrete, white formica, exposed plywood edges, oak veneer, brushed stainless steel and wired glass. Deep olive-green steel frames introduce moments of orientation within the otherwise neutral interior, quietly articulating thresholds, openings and transitions. Construction remains visible throughout the project. Exposed edges, carefully resolved junctions and honest material expression establish an architecture where precision emerges through assembly.

A compact kitchenette occupies one edge of the plan as an architectural volume integrated within the overall composition. Oak surfaces, brushed stainless-steel worktops and concealed storage form a single object that supports everyday use while reinforcing the continuity of the interior. Adjacent lacquered cabinets and a custom-built bench extend this sequence, occupying existing niches and residual spaces with the same architectural language. Every addition belongs to the logic of the whole rather than functioning as an isolated object.

The sculpted wet volume occupies the most constrained portion of the existing shell beneath the staircase. Basin, bathtub and storage merge into a continuous ceramic geometry finished entirely in warm beige mosaic-tiles. The fine grain of the surface softens the changing volumes while natural light introduced from the doors transom reinforces the perception of a single sculptural interior. The room is experienced as an architectural object whose spatial continuity extends the project’s broader investigation into the occupation of residual geometry.

The relationship between the semi-basement and the street forms an equally important part of the intervention. New steel-framed openings establish a quieter dialogue with the neighbourhood, allowing daylight to penetrate deep into the interior while maintaining privacy through carefully controlled transparency. The previously introverted lower-ground space acquires a clear public presence, participating in the everyday life of the street without compromising the intimacy of the interior.

SIK54 proposes an architecture of occupation. Residual geometry becomes part of everyday life through a continuous framework of built elements that absorb programme, movement and storage into a single spatial system. Spatial generosity emerges through precision, continuity and the careful activation of what already exists, demonstrating that the quality of architecture is ultimately defined by the intelligence with which it inhabits space.

Athens, 2026.