The Design
The houses’ design, was the result of collaboration of well known architects and civil engineers from Athens and Thessaloniki, namely Elias Stavridis (civil engineer), Nikos Oikonomou (architect), Lydia Lake Stavridou (architect), Clara Stavridou (civil engineer), Dimitris Aggelou (civil engineer) and Christos Panagis (civil engineer). The team elaborated the plans after spending considerable time on the island visiting the site during an entire year, on an everyday basis. Thus, with regards to the principles of sustainable architecture, the local climate and microclimate conditions , the orientation, the views ,the sun’s route during the day and the wind were factors well thought and carefully studied before the final outcome.
Taking advantage of the uniqueness of the land Folegandros, while paying homage to the local architecture, the houses are built of the Aegean stone according to the old traditional way that respects the landscape uses its materials and integrates the onsite conditions to the function of everyday life.
All that, while preserving the comfort and the amenities of a modern vacation house.
Furthermore by building with local stone, a material known for its large thermal mass we assured that while the outside temperatures may fluctuate throughout the day, the daily temperature fluctuations in the house will ‘flatten out’ since the thermal mass will absorb thermal energy when the surroundings are higher in temperature than the mass, and give thermal energy back when the surroundings are cooler. In this way, we preserve high thermal comfort and minimizing the use of cooling or heating systems.
Moreover, matters of water consumption, electricity consumption, thermal insulation, moisture protection, and solar energy were taken into account, in order to provide modern conditions of living in a vacation house that is absolutely operable throughout the year.