AXIA Design

Agios Pavlos Villas, Spa and Resort
Crete, Greece 
2014

Agios Pavlos, Crete, Greece 

Project start: 2010

Status: Feasibility Studies

Gross floor area: 7,400m²

Client: Agios Pavlos Hotel, Crete  

Architect: AXIA Design Associates

Project team: Taymoore Balbaa, Chris Wong, Anthony Chen

Perched on a site in the Greek Cyclades sloping dramatically toward the Aegean Sea, this villa and spa resort aims to take advantage of all that its natural setting can offer. Drawing inspiration from this unique, stunning landscape, the design is conceptualized as a series of cave-like dwellings that cascade downward from the top of the hill and look toward the horizon, enjoying unparallelled views of the sea. Carefully positioned to maximize privacy, each villa allows guests an intimate sense of their own distinct experience of paradise, complete with a private rooftop garden.

Informed by an organic architectural language, the design and landscape appear to merge and arise from one another in evocative ways. Accordingly, heavy stone walls provide the primary supporting structures to offer a cavernous sensibility. The material palette is equally earthy, including rusticated stone, board form concrete and cypress wood.

One enters the resort through an elegant forecourt and common amenities centre, where yoga classes and other wellness activities are offered for those guests wishing to mingle outside their private spheres.