Location: KOUROUTA BEACH, PELOPONNESE, GREECE
ARCHITECTURE: K-STUDIO
INTERIOR DESIGN: K-STUDIO
YEAR: 2019
STYLE: INDUSTRIAL MINIMALISM
PHOTOGRAPHY: CLAUS BRECHENMACHER & REINER BAUMANN (BREBA)
NOT EVERY ABANDONED WINE FACTORY GETS A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE. AND VERY FEW END UP WITH A BEACHFRONT ADDRESS, BEAUTIFULLY CONSIDERED INTERIORS AND A RATHER GOOD REASON TO STAY FOR THE WEEKEND. SET DIRECTLY ON THE SAND AT KOUROUTA BEACH, ON GREECE’S WESTERN PELOPONNESE COAST, DEXAMENES SEASIDE HOTEL IS A REMARKABLE EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN ARCHITECTURE RESISTS THE TEMPTATION TO START AGAIN FROM SCRATCH.
DESIGNED BY ATHENS-BASED K-STUDIO, THE HOTEL OCCUPIES A FORMER WINERY AND DISTILLERY DATING BACK TO THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY. ITS STORY BEGINS WITH THE GREEK CURRANT TRADE, ONCE ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT EXPORT INDUSTRIES. WHEN THE MARKET COLLAPSED IN THE EARLY 1900S, PRODUCERS TURNED TO WINE, AND INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES SUCH AS THIS ONE BEGAN APPEARING ALONG THE COAST. DEXAMENES WAS BUILT BESIDE THE SEA SO THAT WINE COULD BE LOADED DIRECTLY ONTO SHIPS. DECADES LATER, THE CONCRETE STRUCTURES WERE LEFT BEHIND, WEATHERING QUIETLY IN THE SALT AIR.
FORTUNATELY, K-STUDIO SAW SOMETHING RATHER MORE INTERESTING THAN A COLLECTION OF DERELICT TANKS. THE ARCHITECTS CHOSE TO PRESERVE THE BUILDINGS’ INDUSTRIAL CHARACTER, ALLOWING THEIR IMPERFECTIONS, PATINA AND UNCOMPROMISING GEOMETRY TO BECOME THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW DESIGN. THE RESULT IS A HOTEL THAT FEELS ENTIRELY CONTEMPORARY WITHOUT PRETENDING ITS PAST NEVER HAPPENED.
AT THE HEART OF THE PROJECT ARE TWO LONG CONCRETE BUILDINGS, EACH ORIGINALLY DIVIDED INTO TEN WINE-STORAGE TANKS. THESE HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO GUEST ROOMS, WITH THEIR THICK WALLS AND COMPACT PROPORTIONS LARGELY INTACT. ORIGINAL MANHOLES, PIPES AND WEATHERED SURFACES REMAIN VISIBLE, WHILE PRECISELY DETAILED STEEL FRAMES, TEXTURED GLASS AND WARM TIMBER INTRODUCE A QUIETER, MORE DOMESTIC SCALE. THERE IS SOMETHING PARTICULARLY SATISFYING ABOUT SEEING SUCH UNCOMPROMISING INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECTURE PUT TO SUCH GENTLE USE.
INSIDE, THE ROOMS ARE SPARE BUT FAR FROM SEVERE. POLISHED TERRAZZO, SOFT LIGHTING AND CAREFULLY CONSIDERED DETAILS BALANCE THE ROUGHNESS OF THE ORIGINAL CONCRETE. RATHER THAN CONCEALING THE BUILDING’S HISTORY, THE DESIGN MAKES A FEATURE OF IT. EVEN THE CUT EDGES OF THE OLD TANK WALLS REVEAL AGGREGATES THAT ADD UNEXPECTED COLOUR AND TEXTURE. IT IS A MATERIAL PALETTE THAT DOES VERY LITTLE SHOWING OFF — WHICH, OF COURSE, IS PRECISELY WHY IT WORKS.
BETWEEN THE TWO ROWS OF ROOMS, A FORMER INDUSTRIAL YARD HAS BECOME A PEACEFUL COURTYARD GARDEN. A SHALLOW POOL REFLECTS THE SKY, WHILE THE ORIGINAL STEEL DRUMS STAND IN THE WATER LIKE SCULPTURAL REMINDERS OF THE SITE’S FORMER LIFE. SECTIONS OF CONCRETE REMOVED DURING CONSTRUCTION HAVE BEEN REPURPOSED AS STEPPING-STONES. EVEN THE MATERIAL THAT WAS TAKEN AWAY HAS FOUND SOMETHING USEFUL TO DO.
THE SEAFRONT ROOMS HAVE A PARTICULARLY ENVIOUS POSITION. LARGE WINDOWS OPEN TOWARDS THE WATER, WITH PRIVATE SHADED PATIOS OFFERING FRONT-ROW SEATS TO THE CHANGING LIGHT AND EVENING SUNSETS. A RAISED WALKWAY CONNECTS THE ACCOMMODATION TO THE BEACH, ITS RAILINGS INCORPORATING ELEMENTS OF THE FACTORY’S ORIGINAL IRRIGATION SYSTEM. NOTHING HERE FEELS UNNECESSARILY POLISHED. THE CHARM LIES IN THE CONTRAST BETWEEN RAW CONCRETE, WARM SAND AND THE ENDLESS MOVEMENT OF THE SEA.
THE HOTEL’S TWO ORIGINAL STONE OUTBUILDINGS HAVE ALSO BEEN GIVEN NEW PURPOSE, HOUSING DINING AND CULTURAL SPACES. RECLAIMED BRICKS, LOCALLY MADE CERAMIC TILES AND AN OPEN KITCHEN CREATE AN INFORMAL SETTING FOR LONG MEALS, WINE TASTINGS AND CONVERSATIONS THAT ARE UNLIKELY TO END EARLY. ART EXHIBITIONS, WORKSHOPS AND CULTURAL EVENTS ADD ANOTHER LAYER TO THE EXPERIENCE, MAKING DEXAMENES FEEL LESS LIKE AN ISOLATED HOTEL AND MORE LIKE A PLACE WITH AN ONGOING STORY.
AND THAT STORY IS STILL EVOLVING. A NEW ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER ENVISAGES EIGHT ADDITIONAL ROOMS ABOVE THE ORIGINAL CONCRETE TANKS.
CONCEIVED AS A LIGHTWEIGHT STRUCTURE OF SLENDER METAL ELEMENTS AND WARM TIMBER, THE EXTENSION IS DESIGNED TO HOVER ABOVE THE EXISTING BUILDINGS RATHER THAN COMPETE WITH THEM. GENEROUS VERANDAS AND SHADED PERGOLAS WILL OPEN TOWARDS THE SEA, WHILE THE ROBUST CONCRETE STRUCTURES BELOW REMAIN THE UNMISTAKABLE HEART OF THE PROJECT.
WHAT MAKES DEXAMENES SO COMPELLING IS NOT SIMPLY ITS TRANSFORMATION FROM FACTORY TO HOTEL, BUT THE INTELLIGENCE WITH WHICH THAT TRANSFORMATION HAS BEEN HANDLED. K-STUDIO HAS RESISTED THE URGE TO ERASE, DISGUISE OR OVERDECORATE. INSTEAD, THE ARCHITECTURE ALLOWS THE BUILDING’S HISTORY TO REMAIN PRESENT IN EVERY SURFACE, SHADOW AND UNEXPECTED DETAIL.
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