Type:  Flat refurbishment / Soft wall Library partition
Status: Completed
Area: 35 sq.m.
Year: 2020
Location: Athens
Carpenter: Y. Koutsovoulos

35sqm_REFURBISHMENT ON A BUDGET / SHARING WITH THE ELDERLY

During the housing crisis that emerged in Athens with the appearance of short term accommodation rentals, an academic professor was forced to leave a rented flat in Exarcheia and seek for a new apartment where he could also house an aging relative. Real estate prices in Athens have soared in recent years, making it harder for people to find family-sized apartments. Under these cramped-living conditions, the new property of 35 sq.m. that was purchased, comprised of a partially open floor plan with great storage facilities and an extensive use of drywall gypsum panels. This was in contrast with the need to provide efficiency for two very different life conditions: firstly the need to shelf 4500 books with office space and secondly the provision to ease movement for an aging relative whose mobility is limited on a walking frame. With an extremely tight budget a soft wall library partition with a foldable door was constructed out of birch plywood in order to replace unnecessary cupboards and provide enough privacy for two.