MOULD ARCHITECTS CARVES A RETREAT INTO THE ROCKY SIDE OF SHERIFF
Wide terraces cross its rock Greecein Serifos and turn towards the Aegean. MOLD Architects has built PERMA, a five-storey building retreaton this steep terrain, allowing the planted roofs and stone-filled surfaces to continue the colors of the island, while a concrete frame gives the complex its geometric order.
The 270 square meter project organizes accommodation through a porous grid of rooms, courtyards, pools and planted areas. Its low horizontal profile responds to the exposed hillside, where shade and shelter are as important as sea views. From above, much of the architecture reads as another layer of rooftops across the hillside.
images © Giorgos Sfakianakis
A CONCRETE HOLDS STONE, WATER AND SHADOW
THE group MOLD Architects uses a three-dimensional concrete grid as the shelter’s main structure, with each bay containing either an enclosed room or an outdoor space. Some sections contain water, while others are filled with excavated earth or vegetation. Reeds filter the sun onto the terraces and deep openings maintain visual connections between the sheltered interiors and the skyline.
This framework creates a steady rhythm without flattening the irregular ground beneath it. Bedrooms and living areas are adjacent to open rooms formed by walls and beams, extending the residences outdoors while maintaining a sense of enclosure. Light passes through the grid at varying angles, casting hard-edged shadows on concrete and rough stone floors.
PERMA occupies a rocky northern slope on the Greek island of Serifos
EXCAVATED STONE RETURNS TO ARCHITECTURE
Material removed during construction was reused throughout the project. The stone collected from the excavation forms walls and fills parts of the grid, while the remaining soil forms the wide terraces that run down the hillside. Local craftsmen cast the floors and built-in furniture in the premises, giving benches, beds and counters the same mineral character as the surrounding construction.
Rainwater is collected for irrigation and edible plants grow on the roofs, placing the working landscape directly above the rooms. These practical systems become part of the architectural language rather than hidden infrastructure. Throughout PERMA, MOLD Architects treats space as both a building material and a guide to space, transforming an exposed Cycladic hillside into a sequence of shaded rooms between rock and sea.
a concrete grid organizes five residences across the steep terrain
the planted roofs extend the surrounding ground above the enclosed rooms
Reeds cast changing streaks of shadow across the outdoors
