Divercity Architects

Kinsterna Hotel & Spa

Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe

KINSTERNA HOTEL & SPA

Divercity Architects

ARCHITECTS
Divercity Architects

SPACE CONSULTANT
Sofia Vantaraki

TEXT
Rachel Howard

SERVICES ENGINEER
GKA engineers, Gkazka & Nostos S.A, K. Chaniotis, M. Grispos, Th. Zacharis, G. Koliopanos, K. Manolas

CLIENT
Aighis

DESIGN TEAM
Nikolas Travasaros, Christina Achtypi, Marios Triantafyllou, Sandy Papastavropoulou, Danielle Hodgson, David Rhys Jones, Lisa McSweeney, Chris Mobbs

LIGHTING DESIGNER
D. Kamba (Phase 2), Diathlasis (Phase 1)

COLLABORATING ARCHITECTS
N. Koukoula, El. Maliarou, M. Nikolakopoulou, Nostos

ARCHITECTS DEVELOPED DESIGN PHASE 1
Ergastiri 73, Apostolos Parpairis & Associates

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
G. Dimitrakopoulos & Associates, OTM, M. Travasarou

CONTRACTOR
Nostos

PHOTOGRAPHS
Cathy Cunliffe, Costas Tsagarakis, Vangelis Paterakis, Yiannis Alefantou

LOCATION
Monemvasia, Greece

CATEGORY
Adaptive Reuse

Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Yiannis Alefantou

Text description provided by architect.

Kinsterna Hotel is a five-star hotel in the Peloponnese, near the Byzantine fortress of Monemvasia. Surrounded by olive and citrus groves, the 17th century estate has a fascinating past, spanning Byzantine, Ottoman and Venetian times.

Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe

Revealing these layers of history was integral to the mansion’s restoration and conversion into a country hotel and spa.

Recreating a self-sufficient and sustainable community was an essential part of our mission to revive this long-abandoned landmark.

Kinsterna, cistern in Greek, is named after the water feature at the heart of the property. For centuries, water has breathed life into this fertile landscape from a source high in the mountains, cascading down a creek before it is channelled into the cistern.

Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe

Water is the central element of the design concept, weaving nature into the architecture and threading the historic and new buildings together.

Irrigating the surrounding orchards, vineyards, and kitchen gardens, water also supports the hotel’s environmental philosophy, enabling the revival of traditional activities that were once the lifeblood of the estate, such as wine and olive oil production.

Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Yiannis Alefantou

In phase two, we were commissioned to design a substantial extension to accommodate additional common areas.

Designing a modern building alongside a historic mansion, while remaining sensitive to the natural environment, posed a number of challenges.

Our solution was inspired by the tiled, pitched roofs of Byzantine Monemvasia.

Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa

We unfolded and extended this recognisable form to create an abstracted roofscape that speaks to the region’s undulating hills, as well as the guest's unfurling journey through the estate.

Thanks to careful consideration of the position and geometry of the new building, its large volume almost disappears when viewed from the pool.

Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe

Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe


Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Cathy Cunliffe
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
© Yiannis Alefantou


Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
Elevation
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
Diagram


Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
Floor Plan
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
Floor Plan
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
Floor Plan
Kinsterna Hotel & Spa
Section

Divercity Architects
T +44 20 77295035
Divercity Architects
Colour House, Bentley Rd, London N1 4FH, United Kingdom