simpraxis: house 0605 in cyprus

‘house 0605’ by simpraxis, nicosia, cyprusimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

built for a family of three on the outskirts of nicosia in cyprus, ‘house 0605’ by local practice simpraxis takes up only half of a lot and shares a wall with its neighbor. the sequence of spaces are designed to let the user experience an integral relationship between the interior and exterior as well as on a larger scale between the residence and the neighborhood. sliding perforated metal panels around the openings marking the street side facade give the resident the possibility to open the house to the outside world, or close it off completely.

the house was able to be setback due to its sharing a lot with another houseimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

the central courtyard typology wraps a private outdoor space around which the living room, kitchen and major circulation are organized. the top level contains the bedroom and an overhanging corridor that shades the social functions below. the structure consists of poured-in-place concrete shear walls and large glass panels. the exposed concrete also carries through to the interior material palette, defining the walls and balanced by the warmth of the wooden floor. spaces are placed to be joined or separated based on the time of day and the specific activity. a retractable metal fence at the front of the dwelling slides back to connect the living area with the street-side courtyard created from the three-foot setback.

street-side facadeimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

metal screens open to allow the living space to spill out into the front courtyardimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

front entranceimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

small entry courtyardimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

image © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

exposed concrete wallsimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

wooden deck around the swimming poolimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

stairs leading to the upstairs bedroomimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

image © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

overhanging bedroom held up by angled columnsimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

house wraps around a courtyardimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

image © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

the kitchen intrudes into the courtyard and opens directly to itimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

image © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

large sliding glass doors close off or join spacesimage © marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

floor plan / level 0

floor plan / level 1

elevation

project info:

project title and location: house 0605, nicosia, cyprusarchitects: marios christodoulides & christos christodoulou – simpraxisproject team: christos pasadakis, maria karydou, stelios zenieris, stella parpaconstruction: takis christoforoustructural engineer: platonas stylianoumechanical engineer: kikis hadjifrangiskouelectrical engineer: andreas sotirioucost: approx. €300,000plot size: 275 sqminterior spaces: 165 sqmyear: 2011photography: marios christodoulides, christos papantoniou

architecture in cyprus (31)