This Syros house, titled Residence Viglostasi and designed by Athens-based architecture studio Block722, is a Greek island holiday home conceived to feel entirely in sync with its picturesque, natural locale. The project – a commission for a private client, a family of four – had to draw on its island setting while offering a generous and contemporary, yet modest space for its residents. The answer? The architects crafted the house’s distinctive character by cleverly drawing on the typology of small Aegean villages – minimalist architecture constellations of low volumes, often found sprawled on hillsides, looking out towards the sea.'
Syros house: a home in sync with its island setting
Block722 is known for a signature, masterful use of minimalism that taps on each project’s surroundings, natural materials, gentle colour tones and serene overall atmosphere – past projects have included the Cretan retreat ‘O Lofos’, completed last year. Here too, the team, led by studio co-founders Sotiris Tsergas and Katja Margaritoglou, worked with the sense of place crafted by the typical Greek island dwellings, using stone, timber and white render to compose a family of low volumes. These form a complex of small structures connected by external pathways and terraces – much like the region’s Aegean island communities.
Inside, ‘gentle luxury’ is instilled via careful material selection and a distinct sense of space – flowing interiors, expansive gardens and terraces, and large openings throughout. The materials used span Olympus marble, travertine stone, bamboo, and oak wood.
‘It all perfectly fits the client’s vision for a home that feels like a family of traditional Aegean structures, offering different views, feels and qualities of space to play with and enjoy,’ the architects say in a written statement.
Nature permeates every corner, either through the long sea vistas, the numerous planted areas and decked terraces, shading garden pergolas, and the green roofs throughout the complex, which have been populated with local species. Meanwhile, a few steps at the bottom on the sloped plot lead visitors down to the clients’ own cove, used, they explain, for private swimming and yacht mooring.
