Cliff Villas

Located at the hill of Paliokastro completed hidden from plain view, Cliff Villa looks straight out to the Cretan sea. A 4-bedroom vacation house built for a young couple, celebrates its breathtaking view with large openings and a pool sitting right at the edge of the cliff.

The shape of the lot along with the clients wish for fluid shapes, led to this particular floor plan design. The concept was to play with transparent and solid surfaces that offer fascinating insights and outlooks. The simple lines, the uniformity and the plasticity of the white plaster describe the voids of the building.

The villa consists of 2 floors, the first floor which is at the level of the entrance and comprises of 4 bedrooms.  The ground floor develops as a result of the natural slope of the terrain and integrates a living and dining area, kitchen and service areas. The pool is laid out along the east elevation, in order for the exhaust of the pool water to help in the natural cooling of the building. Its shape is almost mirroring the shape of the building, while at its north end there is an outdoor seating area sunken in the ground.

For bioclimatic reasons the west elevation has long narrow openings. The southern elevation benefits from a strong relationship between the interior and exterior. The L shaped window offers views of the vegetation, the steep cliff and the sea.  At the north – south axis there are two outdoor terraces surrounded by stone walls, a nod to the Cretan “xerolithia” a stone technique that has its origins long back in the past.