Structura RAL 9016: Cinematic Impressions ―
The vacation house in Neratza, designed by R|C|TECH, is built on a flat site, neighboring the coastline of the Northern Peloponnese, looking over Mount Parnassus to the north. Besides the view, there are no outstanding landscape features or any relatable surrounding buildings to formulate a strong local context; therefore, the context is created by the house itself. To succeed in this objective, the house was designed for creating memories, especially since it is dedicated to vacationing: The clients are a young couple with two children, intending to spend all their summer holidays there.
Researching into the elements capable of “anchoring” memories, the architects benchmarked from the modern buildings in Jacques Tati movies: at first, those seem unworldly, or even comical; however, they are conceived to make a lasting impression upon the onlooker, and their apparent simplicity is endowed with certain features that make them memorable.
In Neratza, the house is a free-standing object in the middle of its property, adjacent to the sea. It is composed of white, simple geometric volumes contained inside a slender concrete frame, concealing an impressive pergola that casts a perpetual shadow theater upon the ample surfaces. The entrance is marked by a vibrant yellow door, and the interior contains a patio. The skyline of the inner volume deviates from the predominant orthogonality and creates a singular, recognizable roof form.
The white color on the clear geometric volumes, and the pergola, invites natural light and gives the building an unworldly impression. Since the house is immediately adjacent to the sea, all metal components are protected with a brilliant white superdurable Structura RAL 9016 powder: the impression it creates is industrial, and its very smooth, fine texture and minimal gloss makes the linear elements appear immaterial, intended to capture the sunlight upon their body and to cast clear shadows upon their surroundings.
The simple layout of the building, organized in one level, allows the creation of exterior spaces diversified with different qualities, as well as the organic interlocking of different programmatic areas, located both inside and outside. The house evolves in two wings; one contains two bedrooms, the other one accommodates the guest house. Their meeting point is the location of a generous living space, including a bespoke kitchen, the dining room and the lounge area with a freestanding fireplace.
Two large cylindrical skylights are centered above the kitchen counter and the dining table. A central outdoor living space sits between the pool and the living room. The front terrace opens to the beach and to the sea, while the courtyard to the south is endowed with privacy and provides a sense of sanctuary. The elegant concrete frame of the pergolas wraps around the white monolithic volume of the house, framing the view and adjusting the proportions of the whole.
Architecture: R|C|TECH
Color – Powder Coating: RAL 9016 Structura D2525, YA316F
