Art Collector's House

Private Residence & Art Gallery

This house, situated in 20 acres of woodland, is a home for a young family and their extensive art collection. It is more of a gallery with some living space within it rather than the other way around. Long overhangs shade the south facing building, with the Stavrovouni mountain as the focal point. To enjoy the pine forest within the plot and the panoramic mountain views, the study is placed in a tube like structure, just like a camera lens or a canon, cantilevering on the top of the building.

What made the realization of this project an interesting challenge was the combination of the two client briefs, an art gallery and a family home, which lead to creating an almost hybrid architecture for the building. The middle section of the house, which is the main entrance to the gallery, is a large double height space displaying the artwork and sculptures while using the landscape pine forest as a backdrop. However on the outer wings of the house the height is brought done and corridors and interconnecting spaces are introduced to create a more home-familiar environment.

The house has a total area of 1,600m² and is built on a land area of approximately 24,000m².

The house and gallery space have become one entity and have been used on many occasions by the client and also by artists as a place to entertain and exhibit. The dining area is positioned in the center of the gallery surrounding by all the artwork and sculptures. On the grounds, the extended landscape has become series of pathways that meander through different types of gardens, constantly changing the perspective views of the house through the woods.

The house is located on the outskirts of Nicosia, Cyprus and was completed in late 2014 and inhabited since.

Our work ranges in scale from interiors and small buildings to large scale architectural projects as well as urban master planning. Regardless of the size, context or scope, we approach each project as a unique challenge and an exciting opportunity to develop a dynamic and efficient design response. We are committed to creating buildings which influence the quality of lives while at the same time we make every effort to ensure that our buildings are sustainable, financially viable, create value, minimize environmental impact and optimize energy efficiency. An appreciation of place is also essential to our working process; we never resort to a fixed architectural language, but work in response to the particularities. We use sketches, models and 3 dimensional digital tools to explore and refine our designs, translating our schemes into reality by drawing on an exceptional network of knowledge and experience that embraces every aspect of a building's design, construction and performance. We enjoy the challenge of good detailing and the consistency of our approach and our meticulous attention to detail is well known and appreciated. Our drive to create energy-efficient buildings does not prioritize novelty over performance and we are always open to using traditional technologies, local materials, expertise and the available industry in order to provide the best solution to our clients.

The challenge of designing this building was the combination of an art gallery and private home for a family of 4. Taking into consideration each item that was going to be "exhibited" and its dimensions but also to accommodate for future collections and future family expansion.

The architecture of this house was determined by the hybrid brief that was assigned to it at its conception stage; art gallery combined with a family home. Each space has been designed with the idea of form follows function. The main entrance draws you in from the tight dense pine forest into a large double height gallery space, which houses a vast collection of sculptures and paintings. On the wings of this gallery building are the living spaces which are scaled proportionally to create the family home environment. Landscaped gardens surround the front of the house and extend into the forest.

Image Credits: All images taken by Vakis Associates

Awards and Accolades: This Design was awarded Iron in A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2016. Iron A' Design Award: Awarded to well-designed, practical, and innovative creations that meet professional and industrial requirements. Respected for integrating industry best practices and competent technical characteristics, they provide fulfillment and positive feelings, contributing to a better world.