Photography courtesy of 157 + 173 Designers.
Lately I’ve been poring over Passer Domesticus, a sculptural, somewhat peculiar space in Thessaloniki, Greece, by local 157 + 173 Designers.
The space seems to reveal more each time I look at it: a terracotta sink; architectural bits and pieces, such as found cobblestones repurposed as a stoop; an artful storage bed; a squash as sculpture in the kitchen.
The space is in a traditional building with Byzantine-style windows framed by small columns. Note the custom wood ledges that transform a stoop into someplace to sit, and the window shades, for privacy.
1. Go green.
2. Leave it be.
In the main kitchen and dining area at street level, the designers painted the walls and cement floor white.
“It’s a reminder of the space’s past chroma, which eventually becomes the only color on the walls.” Of note: a grid of cobblestones repurposed as an anchor for the ladder.
3. Use natural tones.
The space ties together the “multicultural language” of the building’s history, including Byzantine, neoclassical, and folk styles, the designers say.
4. Embrace idiosyncrasy.
The small kitchen has simple bones, like fiberboard cabinetry and exposed white pipes that hold the sink.
Small-scale furniture keeps the space feeling open, as shown here, in the mix-and-match dining area.
5. Go small-scale.
On the other side of the front door, the designers fitted a sharply angled corner with a built-in plywood couch, complete with storage.
6. Make use of unused corners.
The cement staircase behind the kitchen sink leads downstairs, to the bath, where a recessed vanity, built into an archway, evokes the Cycladic style of ancient Greece, with its whitewashed, curved forms.
7. Create a sculptural vanity.
8. Transform a ledge into an altar.
A window well over the bath is transformed into an opportunity for display with “a private garden of plants and stones” plus natural light.
Photograph courtesy of Airbnb.
On the concrete stairs leading back to street level, a small ledge becomes a place for display.
Back on the first floor, the designers took advantage of the lofty ceilings by creating a clever in-between level with a sturdy fisherman’s net that references the building’s history as a fishing shop.
9. Build in levels.
Up a set of pale green stairs is the bedroom, where the designers painted the original wide-plank floors white.
10. Enlist a storage bed.
Yet another tiny built-in level: A small plywood step leads to a rudimentary closet with two exposed pipes and hangers.
11. Create an ad-hoc closet.
12. Rethink ladders.
The designers used vintage ladders throughout as a space-saving measure.
Blink and you’ll miss it: the shop’s subtle sign.
How they did it: the plans.