USP’s new Athens studio is located on the ground floor of an apartment building, originally designed back in 1947 by Emmanuel Vourekas and Renos Koutsouris, on Lykavittou Street, Kolonaki.
Designed with sensitivity to the old building it occupies, the office is spread across the 150sq.m floor, preserving its originality while fusing the old elements with modern details, materials forms, and colors. The apartment, in its initial form, comprises two bedrooms on the street side, a hall, a living room, and a dining room, while a transitional space used to connect the spaces to the kitchen and the maid’s room with a built-in WC facing the vacant lot. USP designed the meeting room and the directors’ room in the front zone, which is now followed by open offices (with 19 workplaces), placing the kitchen and material storage areas at the back. The garage is connected with the meeting room, functioning as a direct access point to the meeting room by car and also as a material palette storage room. Part of the garage facing the street, closes with an electric blind, offering a bright window to the street.
With the white color dominating the walls, floors, and furniture of the open-plan space, the design is the result of the conversation between old and new. Contemporary additions such as the metal bookcase at the entrance, the black bookcase with leather and marble details, the marble table in the meeting room, and the triangular table in the directors’ room merge perfectly with the terrazzo floor, furniture, and marble sink in the kitchen that were kept in their original state. A smoked mirror was placed on the backsplash, creating interesting reflections and giving depth to the space. The curtains, apart from their obvious function of isolating spaces, also function as sound absorbers.
