Architects Ioakeim Patsios and Anastasia Patsiou redesigned this minimal yet luxurious “Cave” suite in Oia, Santorini, using white as a dominant color and making references to the interior of the traditional Captain Houses (kapetanospita) of the island. The project took place as part of the extended renovation and restoration of the boutique hotel “1864 The Sea Captain’s House”, one of the largest and most luxurious, traditional Captain Houses in the area, which offers tremendous views to the Caldera and the volcano islands across it.
The interior design aims to create a sense of comfort and relaxation, as well as a subtle feeling of luxury, reminiscent of the distinct elegant style of the hotel as a whole. Work was carried out with the aim of bringing out the simplicity and clarity of local architectural characteristics, while the same principles where used in the integration of contemporary elements of design. White was chosen as the single and dominant color, allowing the greatest possible diffusion of physical light, while bringing out the distinctive traditional morphology and shapes of the cave house shell. The white plaster of the interior shell, along with the built-in furniture, white deck flooring and cement screed, all work together to form a minimal and abstractive entity. Artificial lighting is as integrated as possible into building elements, complementing the lack of natural light due to the cave-house structure.
Any additional furniture and design objects were chosen quite carefully; those include two old wooden chests used as coffee and TV tables, black metal chairs that refer to the hotels antique metal furniture, handmade metal lights and pottery created by Greek artist George Vavatsis. All these add intensity, detail and contradictions to the existing white background, making at the same time references to the old traditional interior of the Captain Houses.
