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aTREEum House
aTREEum House
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aTREEum House
Type
STATUS
Under Construction
SIZE
1000 sqft - 3000 sqft
BUDGET
$100K - 500K
On a narrow urban plot just six meters wide in Kifisia, the aTREEum House shapes a residence that treats sustainability as a fundamental design condition. The house is developed as a contemporary timber structure—one of the first of its kind in the area—utilizing a CLT and glulam system, aiming to reduce embodied carbon and overall structural weight. This choice aligns the project with a more responsible approach to building, where materiality, construction precision, and environmental performance operate as a unified design field.
At the heart of the residence lies an atrium that organizes domestic life around an existing tree. This element is not treated as a decorative gesture but as a true core of habitation. The tree becomes part of the everyday interior experience, offering shade, microclimatic improvement, visual calm, and a steady connection to the natural cycle of the seasons. The house thus takes on the character of a contemporary treehouse, where architecture frames nature and gives it an active role.
The project’s design logic is based on vertical development, the use of natural light, and the creation of intermediate spaces that act as filters between inside and outside. The atrium enhances natural ventilation and contributes to the thermal comfort of the house, while allowing light to penetrate deep into the building. Interior spaces maintain direct visual contact with the planted core, creating a sense of inwardness that does not isolate but protects.
The building’s form is expressed through clean geometries and strong incisions that arise from its structure, orientation, and environmental requirements. The façades gain depth through recesses, planted surfaces, and large openings that regulate the relationship with light and shading. The architectural language remains restrained, emphasizing mass, texture, and the scenography of voids. The building asserts its presence without excess, through a balance between the solidity of the envelope and the vitality of vegetation.
Bioclimatic design runs through the project at every level. The southern orientation of the main openings enhances solar gains in winter, while the balance between solid and transparent surfaces helps control heat loss. The green roof acts as thermal protection and an additional environmental performance layer, while a rainwater harvesting system collects roof runoff for irrigation. At the same time, the integration of BIPV photovoltaics into the façade strengthens the building’s energy autonomy, supporting a more holistic approach to low-impact living.
Particular interest also lies in the use of reused perforated steel elements from CNC scraps, incorporated into the design as semi-outdoor filters, walkways, and soft boundaries. This feature reinforces the logic of circularity not only on a technical level but also in terms of architectural expression. Reuse does not remain invisible; it becomes part of the building’s form and contributes to its overall identity.
The aTREEum House proposes a model of urban living where the narrowness of the plot becomes a creative tool. Light, air, vegetation, timber construction, and passive strategies work together to produce a residence with a strong spatial experience and meaningful environmental performance. It is a project that demonstrates how contemporary architecture can remain precise, calm, and essential, while allowing nature to become an integral part of habitation.
Project Details
Name: aTREEum House
Architecture Office: Onus Architecture Studio
Lead Architect: Margarita Kyanidou
Design Team: Christina Ntalli, Aikaterini Korka, Anna Andreadi
Location: Kifisia, Athens, Greece
At the heart of the residence lies an atrium that organizes domestic life around an existing tree. This element is not treated as a decorative gesture but as a true core of habitation. The tree becomes part of the everyday interior experience, offering shade, microclimatic improvement, visual calm, and a steady connection to the natural cycle of the seasons. The house thus takes on the character of a contemporary treehouse, where architecture frames nature and gives it an active role.
The project’s design logic is based on vertical development, the use of natural light, and the creation of intermediate spaces that act as filters between inside and outside. The atrium enhances natural ventilation and contributes to the thermal comfort of the house, while allowing light to penetrate deep into the building. Interior spaces maintain direct visual contact with the planted core, creating a sense of inwardness that does not isolate but protects.
The building’s form is expressed through clean geometries and strong incisions that arise from its structure, orientation, and environmental requirements. The façades gain depth through recesses, planted surfaces, and large openings that regulate the relationship with light and shading. The architectural language remains restrained, emphasizing mass, texture, and the scenography of voids. The building asserts its presence without excess, through a balance between the solidity of the envelope and the vitality of vegetation.
Bioclimatic design runs through the project at every level. The southern orientation of the main openings enhances solar gains in winter, while the balance between solid and transparent surfaces helps control heat loss. The green roof acts as thermal protection and an additional environmental performance layer, while a rainwater harvesting system collects roof runoff for irrigation. At the same time, the integration of BIPV photovoltaics into the façade strengthens the building’s energy autonomy, supporting a more holistic approach to low-impact living.
Particular interest also lies in the use of reused perforated steel elements from CNC scraps, incorporated into the design as semi-outdoor filters, walkways, and soft boundaries. This feature reinforces the logic of circularity not only on a technical level but also in terms of architectural expression. Reuse does not remain invisible; it becomes part of the building’s form and contributes to its overall identity.
The aTREEum House proposes a model of urban living where the narrowness of the plot becomes a creative tool. Light, air, vegetation, timber construction, and passive strategies work together to produce a residence with a strong spatial experience and meaningful environmental performance. It is a project that demonstrates how contemporary architecture can remain precise, calm, and essential, while allowing nature to become an integral part of habitation.
Project Details
Name: aTREEum House
Architecture Office: Onus Architecture Studio
Lead Architect: Margarita Kyanidou
Design Team: Christina Ntalli, Aikaterini Korka, Anna Andreadi
Location: Kifisia, Athens, Greece
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