Located in Galatsi, Athens, Threshold is the complete transformation of an 85 sqm apartment within a residential building dating from the early 1990s. The project responds to the changing ways in which contemporary life inhabits the typical Athenian apartment, rethinking its spatial organisation, domestic rituals and material identity.
The starting point was the conventional division between the communal and private areas of the 1990s apartment. Traditionally, this transition was articulated through a door opening onto a narrow corridor leading to the bedrooms. Rather than preserving this rigid threshold, the design introduces a multifunctional furniture element that acts simultaneously as filter, storage, circulation device and architectural boundary.
This element begins at the entrance as a wardrobe for coats and shoes, continues as a laundry unit and gradually leads towards the private quarters, while seamlessly transforming into the kitchen cabinetry. More than a piece of furniture, it becomes the organisational spine of the apartment, integrating storage, appliances and circulation into a continuous architectural gesture. The notion of the threshold — not as a fixed boundary, but as a spatial condition of transition — became the conceptual basis for the project.
The former separation between kitchen and living areas is similarly reconsidered. An open-plan arrangement brings together the kitchen, dining and living spaces, placing domestic activity at the heart of the home. A generous island, incorporating the ceramic hob, becomes the focal point of this shared space, positioning food preparation and social interaction at its centre.
The kitchen and entrance are articulated by a lowered ceiling finished in the same brown tone as the filter furniture. The intervention creates a subtle visual boundary while concealing the ductwork of the ceiling-mounted cooker hood. Here, the suspended ceiling operates simultaneously as an architectural and functional device.
The reconfiguration of the plan also allowed the former enclosed storage room to be converted into a WC, freeing the existing bathroom to become a master bathroom with direct access from the main bedroom. The removal of the bathroom loft creates greater spatial generosity, while a ribbed-glass door replaces the former solid timber door, introducing a graduated layer of privacy between the bathroom and bedroom.
The material palette responds to the apartment’s north-eastern orientation. Warm shades of brown and mocha establish a calm, enveloping atmosphere and interact with the natural morning light. Brown lacquer defines the filter furniture and the wardrobe of the smaller bedroom, while natural oak veneer brings warmth and texture to the main bedroom.
At the centre of the living space, the kitchen island is conceived almost as a freestanding monolith. It is clad in polished Emperador Dark, a richly veined Spanish marble whose deep brown tones reinforce its sculptural presence. The polished surface amplifies the natural pattern of the stone while reflecting and diffusing daylight across the room. Around this singular object, the everyday rituals of cooking, dining and gathering unfold. A lighter marble was selected for the WC vanity, creating a softer counterpart to the island.
Large-format ceramic slabs replace the original tiled surfaces throughout the wet and circulation areas, while the existing oak parquet in the bedrooms was retained, restored and returned to its natural tone. The juxtaposition of new and existing materials allows the apartment’s original character to remain legible within its contemporary transformation.
The generous terrace, overlooking Alsos Veikou, extends the living spaces outdoors and is organised into two distinct zones: an outdoor dining area and a lounge.
Ultimately, Threshold proposes a contemporary reinterpretation of the Athenian apartment. Rather than treating the renovation as a sequence of isolated rooms, the project establishes a continuous spatial and material language in which furniture, architecture and circulation become interconnected. The result is a home organised around transitions — between public and private, open and enclosed, existing and new — where the threshold becomes not a limit, but a space in itself.
