DEXAMENES SEASIDE HOTEL,
PELOPONNESE.
ARCHITECTURE: K-STUDIO
INTERIOR DESIGN: K-STUDIO
YEAR: 2019
STYLE: INDUSTRIAL MINIMALISM
COUNTRY: GREECE
Greece has no shortage of beautiful seaside hotels, but very few can claim to have started life as somewhere to store several thousand litres of wine. Dexamenes Seaside Hotel, set directly on the Ionian coast of the Peloponnese, occupies a former winery dating back to the 1920s. Its transformation by Athens-based practice K-Studio is a rather compelling demonstration that industrial architecture and Mediterranean hospitality can make surprisingly good companions.
The original concrete wine tanks have been converted into individual suites, with much of their industrial character deliberately left intact. Weathered walls, exposed pipes and traces of the building’s working past sit alongside slender steel frames, glass partitions and carefully considered timber details. There is no attempt to disguise what these spaces once were. In fact, the architecture seems rather proud of it.
Inside, the rooms are exercises in restraint. Raw concrete provides the backdrop, while polished terrazzo floors, warm wood and understated furnishings introduce just enough softness. Large glazed openings connect the interiors to private terraces, and the beachfront suites look directly towards the Ionian Sea. It is minimalism with a distinctly industrial accent, although considerably more comfortable than the original occupants of the tanks might have imagined.
Between the two rows of concrete structures, a former industrial yard has become a quiet courtyard garden. Shallow water reflects the surrounding architecture, while the winery’s enormous steel drums remain as sculptural reminders of the site’s history. Elsewhere, restored stone buildings accommodate dining and cultural spaces, allowing art, food and local traditions to become part of the experience.
There is something particularly satisfying about the honesty of Dexamenes. Rather than replacing the past with something more conventionally attractive, K-Studio has allowed the original architecture to dictate the character of the hotel. The result is unexpectedly serene, beautifully detailed and refreshingly uninterested in looking like a typical Greek island retreat.
A LITTLE INDUSTRIAL HISTORY, A GREAT DEAL OF CONCRETE, AND PROOF THAT GOOD WINE ISN’T THE ONLY THING WORTH PRESERVING.
