Ramp House

Recently created by Archivirus Architecture and Design, the Ramp House is a response to the client’s request for a “skatable habitat”. According to architect Athanasia Psaraki, the Ramp House is a project which tries to reconsider and redefine the living space. The result of the client’s request is a curved form interior, which “set the whole house as well as the inhabitant’s life, into motion”.

In the space, which is a roof addition to an existing three-storey building, she tries to achieve a balance between old and new. The dominant material was wood, so a wooden pergola and wooden horizontal louvers surround the new structure, connecting the old and new.

The architect wanted the ‘skateboarding’ element to be more than simply putting a mini ramp in the living room. Rather, the ramp, the bowl and all the interpretations of those terms would actually become the building elements for this space. It is intended to be a ‘ramp house’ and not a ‘house with a ramp’. Straight lines are curved and the flat surface becomes a ramp or a bowl. Basic house elements such as the fireplace and storage units are hidden inside the ramp forms.

The street aesthetics of the skate scene are combined with a home atmosphere by combining concrete and wood. Concrete walls mould into the floor and concrete turns into wood to create a ramp partition with the kitchen. In that way, says the architect, somebody can flow from one space to the other, skating or walking.