TYPE: Family residence of three independent units | LOCATION: 6 Timoleontos Street, Strovolos, Nicosia, Cyprus | ARCHITECTS: Maria Georgiou (50%), Panos Leventis (50%), Constantinos Kypris [Details/Construction Administration]
The design for the upper-level (main) apartment at HOUSE X aimed at furthering the public/private and open/enclosed space dialogue developed for HOUSE N+N. The composition's two defining volumes were thus placed on the site following considerations of view, function and solar exposure. Simultaneously, the two town-house apartments that occupy the two lower levels are provided with ample interior spaces, but also large terraces and verandas that open to the southeast-facing garden. Clarity of volumes and simplicity of materials were crucial in giving the building its architectural character, while the sloping site and Morpheus, name of the clients’ son, informed the composition’s concept, sectional treatment and roof lines.
TYPE: Restoration/Conversion of listed building | LOCATION: 8 Aristeidou Street, Walled City, Nicosia, Cyprus | ARCHITECTS: Maria Georgiou (50%), Panos Leventis (50%)
This restoration project involved a notable example of early 20th century residential architecture in the walled city of Nicosia. The listed building, incorporating stylistic and typological elements of the medieval and renaissance fabric that surrounds it, is constructed of local ochre porous stone. While facing the street as a single-story structure, the building develops into three-stories in the back of the site, with an upper level facing the side street and a lower level opening into an atrium. For its restoration and conversion into a hybrid multipurpose facility that includes a café/restaurant occupying the ground and upper levels, a bar at the lower level and atrium, and a bookstore near the entrance, the intention was to facilitate circulation and spatial flow while making as few interventions as possible to the building’s architectural character.
TYPE: Single family residence | LOCATION: 2 Dikaiosynis Street, Lakatamia, Nicosia, Cyprus | ARCHITECTS: Maro Papadopoulou (50%), Panos Leventis (50%)
The design aims to project ideas of conflict/reconciliation and division/unity in this residence for a family of refugees from the north of Cyprus. Conceptual emphasis is placed on the dialogue between public/private areas and open/enclosed spaces. The plan is constituted by a rectangle and a square, into which the private and public domains are respectively inserted. The public domain is placed on the southwestern corner of the site, facing the streets and view, while the private domain, larger in area and volume, rests in the quieter, western side. The corresponding grids, along with the two circulation paths that simultaneously unite and divide the composition, intensify the uniqueness and symbolism that condition the design.
TYPE: Rehabilitation and retirement center [50 person capacity] | LOCATION: 7 Pafou Street, Aglantzia, Nicosia, Cyprus | ARCHITECTS: Maria Georgiou (50%), Panos Leventis (50%)
The narrow and elongated site foreshadowed the creation of a linear composition on an east-west axis. SAINT JOHN's public areas are placed at the western edge of the building, near the main access road and the adjoining public park. The lines and volumes describe the clarity and the dynamics of the composition. The curving wall of the main dining room is a gesture of invitation, mobility and interaction between the building, the street and the park. The functional needs of patients, workers and visitors, in conjunction with the required sizes of programmatic elements, resulted in the compactness of the composition. Bioclimatic considerations led to the open-ended character of the building along its central axis and to the formal differentiation of the south from the north-facing rooms.