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The technical identity of the complex

An archaeological site of a Byzantine church dating back to the 9th century, the ruins of an olive-oil mill dating back to the 19th century and a medium-sized tourist complex which could serve many different purposes coexist over an area of approximately 35,000 m2. 

There are dozens of issues at different levels to be solved and designed, concerning:

• the infrastructure of a modern small settlement with all the necessary technical and technological requirements;

• the promotion and the visits of a guarded archaeological site

• the functional and aesthetic integration of a small industrial building

• the hotel rooms of different types and sizes

• the dozens of accompanying different uses of the hotel

• the fixed and movable furniture

• the hotel’s visual and corporate identity

• the exterior and interior lighting studies with very stringent energy consumption requirements

• the different lighting profiles, the lighting fixtures and lamps in order to meet these very stringent energy consumption requirements

• the dozens of special systems and accessories

• and the dozens of auxiliary substructures that are required for the realization of the final construction.

All of the above issues were addressed in a spirit of substantial in-depth analysis of each specific need due to the specificity of the material field of application.

It is a holistic design project in order to support a holistic construction process without following ordinary, massive, low and vulgar industrial pre-prepared standards.

This process can not have a real application value in technically and economically feasible terms and conditions, unless it results in a parametric design of both parts of building constructions as well as of whole sections of building constructions.

Dozens of individual product systems are designed on all building scales, having multiple degrees of compatibility, a fact that is completely missing from current industrial systems of the market. This analytical parametric design is the key that allows any compatibility among different constructional methods, for instance the combination and the matching of handmade, pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial parts to one and the same product.

This “bottom-up” analytical designing process lies in the concrete 1 by 1 concrete designing scale of each construction detail made by hand which, then, must be supported by tools from a variety of modern digital media on a case-by-case basis. This process, if properly completed, opens up possibilities as regards the synthetic top-down work which, being free from the restraints of the part, may then comprehend the whole well, being based on a more “traditional” way of creative work.

Industrial products trap us into their world mainly through their accessories. These accessories make us rely on them and be down to them. The whole designing process is really free when one can intervene at the heart of the construction, at its basic industrial parts.

Nowadays, in our country, this is feasible, economical and easy to be done.

In our case, the whole area was designed on an 1 by 1 basis in terms of the smallest construction detail of:

• each unit of construction,

• each final part of each unit to be constructed, and

• each fitting,

in order to have the building project constructed in dozens of different, parallel ways.

The status of the whole process as well as the status of each detail of the overall process for the realization of the project has been arduously reassessed by the teamwork of a large group of people who have joined forces in order to create a modern custom-built product, in a well-balanced cost-benefit ratio.  

Main synthetic principles

The completion of a significant part of the project’s load-bearing structure in the framework of a study preceding our own study, along with numerous archaeological and town-planning restrictions as well as the existing licensing, precludes any form of radical interventions in the pre-existing basic layout of the building units of the complex.

Having inherited an inelastic condition, we opted for a “fragmentation” as the main synthetic tool, having the “further multi-faceted uniformity” as a strategy instead of that of a “further single-faceted homogenization”.

A sense of counterpoint, a sense of consonance, a sense of multi-level organic coexistence and correlation “reconfigures” the connections of different stand-alone parts-units to one another but also as a whole.

The case of unidentified popular traditional settlements that slowly and painfully over time combine a great number of diverse and often inconsistent entities, is a highly important allusion to this.

Their spatial nature reflects a particular way of social fabric and structure that marks the Greek tradition and characterizes our individuality. It is based on the well-known “solemn creative niches” that are reshaped into communities, into small, relatively independent self-producing societies of people that are established on the basis of an enriched, as the time goes on, “customary” law formed in a participatory way, being “bottom-up” and structured around the economy of specific needs. This way of institutional configuration tolerates "the coexistence", the material coexistence of a number of heterogeneities.

In the complex, the following elements are interacting:

•  as regards the general layout, the rule as well as the exception to the rule;

• as regards the geometries of the shapes, the strictly orthonormal aspects (residential buildings) with the curves, strictly "engraved" (circular cylinders of the central building) or absolutely "free", similar to the “natural” coastline (central pool forms and shapes).

• as regards the structural engineering, the most precious among the number of ways of construction: “traditional”, “pre-industrial”, “machinery-based” or even completely “hand-made” ones (plasterwork, stone masonry) or modern “industrial” and “post-industrial” ones

• as regards the construction materials, the industrial textures and materials (i.e. glass – aluminum) as well as the historical and traditional ones (such as stone, plaster, hand-made ceramic materials and untreated wooden materials).

• as regards the colors, the earth-tone “natural” colors of perished texture with synthetic “artificial” ones that remain unchanged over time and weather conditions;

• as regards the landscaping, the material that is “made-artificial” as well as the “natural” setting (green natural areas and green planted areas)

• as regards an overall ontological level, the “digital” and the “natural” world, by integrating the “smart” technology features into a “virgin” natural environment (sensors, automation, concealed lighting, etc).

infrastructure work

typical section of infrastructure

special pebble floor drainage channel

rainwater channel

special channel formwork

a' infrastructure phase

pool area

pool & staircase formwork

pool view

pool hydromassage

Site photos, December 2017

Construction analysis around the pool area

Shallow water-central route to the beach

shallow water construction

outdoor bar construction

The outdoor spaces:

Earth materials and traditional construction methods are mainly used in the outdoor spaces of the construction project, being perfectly integrated due to their texture and fabrication, as an exception to the rule.

The external walls of the buildings are made from:

• local off-white earth-tone stone

• colored plasters in pastel tones

• scraped concrete structures

• and thin complementary metal sections, framed structures, pergolas etc. painted

in tones of olive-green color.

As regards the floors, the following local earth materials are used: 

• floors made with river pebbles

• compacted earth

• scraped concrete structures

• coated marble strips and slabs

• and hand-made rough ceramic tiles.

As for the swimming pool areas, there will be floors from lava plaster and wooden decks made of teak.

There will be functional and decorative fittings to the main mass of the buildings, industrial ones and not hand-made ones, indicating the current, modern-day style of this building construction.

The combined use of classic elements of timeless appeal with modern elements having probably a transient appeal give evidence of a comprehensive dual identity that is timeless and modern.

The outdoor lighting is soft and discrete, making the starry night sky dome be part of the landscape.

In general, the outdoor lighting is hidden, linear and indirect lighting, where:

• linear luminaires light up the floors,

• self-illuminating surfaces that point at common areas and,

• soft light diffused with a lighting effect from the indoor spaces

Exceptionally, there is point-source lighting that points at the entrances and at the planted areas.

A quiet, restful host environment is created aiming at having a number of small targeted artistic interventions, such as:

• inlay work on the vehicle and pedestrian circulation areas 

• small sculptures in selected outdoor areas of the complex

• functional structures having the value of a piece of sculpture

eastern route to the beach

paths to the buildings-rooms

east view

west view

indoor rooms

building exterior texture

landscaping

Tough plants and vegetation from 117 varieties of  the surrounding environment ensure, with minimal maintenance, color and smells throughout the whole year.

main building -north entrance

south side

first floor

 the main structure

indoor space

underground space

pilot construction

Structural openings, frames, pre-casing

By installing pre-casing, the external and internal skins of the building (the plaster, the roughcast or the stone and the plasterboard) are bridged as regards the construction and there is a transition from a millimetre-precision construction (aluminium frames) into a centimeter-precision construction (masonry, plaster, roughcast and stone). The initial phase of the construction is regarded as the construction of the main framing of the internal board in conjunction with the pre-casing and the sills of the openings and in the second phase the builder “fills up” the already precisely formed openings.

The indoor spaces:

The economy of the interior needs of the rooms is served by an autonomous "building skin" with a single "plastic-molded" substance incorporating, absorbing, interrupting and suppressing any noise made by:

• the electromechanical equipment, the lighting equipment, air-conditioning, etc

• the fixed furniture, the wardrobe, the trunk, the dresser, the sofa, etc.

creating an “aesthetically cohesive” internal environment as simple as possible which frames the landscape, embraces the day use showing only whatever is absolutely necessary from the spaces and the items inside the buildings.

The interior, with the fitting of the individual surfaces through curved parts at their edges, points to an indivisible entity created by a "synthetic" thought pattern and construction method rather than an analytical one.

In essence, it is a reference to a pre-industrial "traditional" "past" that is compatible with the "rural" physiognomy of the area.

What we look for is not a receptor of diverse images of ready-made industrial products, but the formation of a special identity that aims to move, to touch others by pointing to the preciousness of the time and place where this identity is hosted showing a real zeal and diligence.

Everything is designed and built ex nihilo, starting almost from scratch, in order to serve specific needs and unique values in the simplest way.

lighting profiles

3d printing models for the manufacture of plaster profiles molds 

wooden skirting boards, special pieces

lighting construction

Having a total number of 63 guest rooms, there are 16 different types of rooms that are created having partially similar features but being different from one another in their identities and they are defined by:

 • The colors:

An off-white interior environment in different tones and textures, due to the use of different materials (emulsion paint, oil paint, wood, corian, stone, fabric, etc), with small selective color interventions that will not be a decorative cliché.

 • The painting:

An “out of frame” painting intervention is diffused in the interior spaces, marks the identity of the interior environment and is the sign of its aesthetic quality. Everything revolves around this primary painting expression.

 • The patterns:

Everything inside the space and the patterns, wallpapers, fabrics, lava plasters, inlays or chunking – cropping observe this primary painting expression.

The painter Violetta Roïlou handled the color ranges of the interior spaces, the colors of the walls, the colors of the furniture as well as those of the fabrics, etc as if they were components of a painting composition.

This “painting” approach is an injection into the “austere luxury” of the space and it is going to reserve several readings and interpretations to different guests over time. The spaces may have identifying features that may present or even hint any local cultural particularities – preciousness that could show wider qualities and meanings.

In our thought process and reasoning, it would be ideal if this building construction project could be the field of artistic endeavor and expression where, in the light of a common vision, different artists could make their mark giving a special feature and identity on its different units. In order for their work to be an organic whole, it is necessary to organize these artists from the beginning making their presence known throughout the entire construction process.

Μateriality - final image

Corporate identity

The name of the Betelgeuse complex comes from the name of one of Orion's greatest stars. Orion is the brightest of all the classic astral formations and, after the Great Arctic, the most characteristic star of the sky. The idea of ​​the name belongs to the owner who has been captain of the merchant navy. Orion's belt was a historically significant bright sign in the night sky that helped to confirm the proper course of the vessel with minimal technical means.

The name Betelgeuse has Arabic origin. In Greek mythology Orion was a handsome and brave hunter with a multitude of individual myths to accompany his birth and name.

Night, journey, sea, hunter, beauty, mythological deities, stars constitute an internationally perceptible source of meanings and around of these meanings  the image of the hotel is built. Instead of a numerical mark, words and phrases related to them will name the rooms and its individual uses.

The creative part of the design of the corporate identity of the Hotel was undertaken by k2design_Yannis Kouroudis. In addition to conventional needs, cards, envelopes, letterhead and promotional items, every detail has been designed on the basis of the single corporate identity, such as signage of the switches.