Skip to content
The project transforms a former office building in Athens into a contemporary three-star urban hotel, offering a carefully balanced synthesis of functionality, comfort, and refined architectural expression.
The ground floor accommodates a welcoming reception area, bar, and retail space, extending outward to a landscaped outdoor zone with a swimming pool, creating a calm urban retreat within the dense city fabric. A mezzanine level introduces flexible co-working spaces for guests seeking a productive environment, while the basement houses service and back-of-house functions alongside a compact fitness area.
Five upper floors accommodate 34 guestrooms, including four suites and two fully accessible rooms, designed to support privacy, comfort, and contemporary hospitality standards. At roof level, a panoramic roof bar and jacuzzi provide elevated views across the city, establishing a distinctive destination within the hotel.
“Calm is not the absence of energy. It is what happens when every decision in a space is exactly right.” Darya J Hotel. 88 Vouliagmenis Avenue, Athens. What was once an office building is now a 34-room urban hotel — built around a dialogue between Japanese spatial philosophy and the density of central Athens. The concept drew from the Japanese conviction that simplicity is not a style.
It is the result of removing everything that does not need to be there. Vertical timber louvers filter the light on the façade the way shoji screens divide space — without closing it. Inside, warm earthy tones and natural materials set a register that holds across every room. A swimming pool and landscaped terrace carved into the ground floor create a calm urban retreat. A roof bar with panoramic city views closes the sequence. 1,320 m². 34 rooms. 4 suites. 2 accessible rooms. One coherent idea, carried from the façade to the bedside detail. This is what we mean when we say turnkey
Drawing inspiration from Japanese aesthetics, the interior design emphasizes simplicity, balance, and material authenticity. Geometric compositions, warm earthy tones, and the extensive use of natural materials — particularly timber — generate a calm and refined atmosphere, creating a subtle dialogue between Eastern sensibility and the Athenian urban context.
The architectural language of the façade references traditional Japanese screens, articulated through vertical louvers and a finely woven lattice system that organizes the elevation with rhythm and restraint. Acting as a passive shading device, these elements filter daylight, enhance privacy, and introduce depth and texture to the building envelope.
“Happiness is in the doing, not in the result.”
― Hector Garcia Puigcerver, Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life
“The most interesting buildings are often not new. They are the ones that held something old and chose to hold something better.” Darya J Hotel, Athens. The project began with a question that is becoming increasingly important in urban architecture: what do you do with a building that no longer serves its original purpose — but occupies a position that matters?
The answer, in this case, was a contemporary three-star urban hotel. 34 rooms across five floors. A mezzanine co-working level. A basement fitness area. A ground floor reception, bar, and retail space opening onto a landscaped terrace with a swimming pool. A roof bar with city views. The transformation required a new language for the façade — vertical louvers and a woven lattice system referencing Japanese screen architecture, filtering light and giving the elevation rhythm, texture, and depth without ornamentation. Inside: warm timber, natural materials, geometric clarity. A spatial sensibility drawn from Japanese aesthetics and resolved within the specific conditions of a dense Athenian avenue. The brief was precise. The execution is complete. → Full hospitality service info at theardestudio.com/service/hospitality
A contemporary urban hotel,
where functionality, calm, and Japanese-inspired simplicity
shape a refined hospitality experience.
