In Nicosia, Cyprus, a 1970s house now reaches into its woodland through a 133-square-meter glass room. The nicosia house extension has no assigned use. APAP, the architecture practice behind the addition, calls the project DIAGONAL.
The original house rests on two parallel load-bearing walls. APAP’s addition follows a different logic. Its floor and roof both cantilever past the walls, pushing toward the central courtyard and into the tree canopy on the elevated site.
An interior without a program
APAP did not write a functional brief for this project. The interior has no partitions, so no wall marks where one activity should end and another begin. Designboom describes the volume as one that can take on uses nobody has chosen yet.
Like this flexible Nicosia room, glazed pavilions can stay open to uses nobody has planned. Greenhouse Pavilion Blends Growing and Lounging shows one glass structure serving two very different daily purposes.
Light inside the extension
Light is the main source of change inside. The glazed perimeter lets daylight and shifting tree shadows cross the floor and walls through the day. Branches and trunks stay in view from inside, linking the room to the canopy. The concrete planes set the edges of the room, while the woodland outside changes hour by hour.
A diagonal fixture after dark
At night the room turns inward. A custom lighting fixture made of four parts hangs within the space and runs on a diagonal. Its angle reflects the geometry APAP took from the original house.
The fixture uses three colour temperatures. Deep red light is thrown sideways toward the walls, cool white rises to the ceiling, and a milder white falls to the floor. Each treatment lights a different surface, so the walls, ceiling and floor read as separate planes.
The lighting changes how this glass pavilion meets its site. By day, the glass pulls attention toward the woodland. After dark, the lit interior becomes visible from outside, so the room’s appearance shifts while its walls stay the same.
Alexis Papadopoulos and Maria Giannakou, the APAP team behind the project, have kept the daytime purpose of the space open. The fixture gives it a clear character without dividing the floor beneath it. Occupants decide how the space is used. The lighting already decides how it looks at night.
Light is just as central to this extension, so Mycelium Pavilion Turns Human Movement into Light is worth a look for another pavilion driven by illumination.
H/T yankodesign.com
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the 1970s house extension in Nicosia?
The extension was designed by APAP, an architecture practice. Alexis Papadopoulos and Maria Giannakou are the APAP team behind the project, which the practice calls DIAGONAL.
How large is the glass extension in Nicosia?
The glass room added to the 1970s house in Nicosia, Cyprus, measures 133 square meters. It reaches into the woodland surrounding the house.
Does the Nicosia house extension have a set purpose?
The extension has no assigned use, and APAP did not write a functional brief for it. Its interior has no partitions, so it can take on uses that have not been chosen yet.
How does the lighting fixture in the Nicosia extension work?
The custom fixture is made of four parts and hangs in the room on a diagonal that reflects the geometry of the original house. It uses three colour temperatures: deep red light is thrown toward the walls, cool white rises to the ceiling, and milder white falls to the floor.
More in
Architecture
All Architecture
More like this
Barcelona Apartment Transforms Living Spaces with Open-Air Bathroom Design
Vibrant Blue Accents and Marble Transform a Victorian Cottage Into a Modern Haven
A12 Apartment in Rome Transforms with Striking Brick Vaults and Bold Blue Design
Okinawa's Seamless Concrete Home by IGArchitects Blends Interiors with Nature
Rounded Corners and Mid-Green Cabinets Soften Divisions in a Family's Manhattan Flat
