Architecture firm Block722 has completed the Lumen Residence, a stunning duplex home that crowns a five-unit apartment building in Athens' leafy Papagou district. Designed as the personal residence for the firm's founders, Katja Margaritoglou and Sotiris Tsergas, the project transforms the building's top two floors into both a family retreat and a showcase of contemporary urban living.
The 230-square-meter duplex occupies the upper levels of a building that Block722 conceived and developed in partnership with Thekla Construction. From street level, the structure presents a confident and geometric appearance that balances modern architectural rigor with softer design elements. The building's volumes and timber detailing deliberately echo Athens' post-war optimism, drawing inspiration from mid-century architectural forms while incorporating native Mediterranean plantings as a natural backdrop.
Inside the residence, Block722 has created open, free-flowing interiors that prioritize connection and flexibility. The main level brings together living, dining, and kitchen spaces in an open floor plan that relies on furniture and subtle partitions rather than rigid walls for definition. Each functional area maintains its distinct character while remaining connected to the whole, with spatial boundaries shaped by carefully selected materials rather than traditional barriers.
The architects have paid meticulous attention to every surface within the Lumen Residence, focusing on texture and tactile experience. Their material palette includes travertino rosso, oiled timber, marble, and textured plaster, all chosen to provide warmth and depth while expressing natural material qualities. These materials are designed to age gracefully, allowing the home to evolve and develop character alongside its inhabitants. Custom-designed furniture and locally crafted details further enhance this sensibility, reflecting Block722's ongoing commitment to collaboration with local craftspeople.
The upper level houses the private quarters and opens onto a planted terrace featuring a pool and deck area. This outdoor space functions as both a lush retreat and an extension of daily life, offering panoramic views over Papagou's green landscape toward the broader city. The home's southern orientation ensures that natural daylight floods the interior spaces throughout the day, creating a strong connection between the living areas and the sun's daily arc across the sky.
Block722 has integrated wellness concepts directly into the architectural design rather than treating them as add-on amenities. Large openings throughout the residence invite natural air circulation and provide views of the surrounding greenery, while the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces remain deliberately permeable. This thoughtful composition creates multiple moments of stillness – spaces designed for gathering, pausing, and quiet observation.
The residence embodies what the studio calls "organic luxury," a design philosophy that unites thoughtful architectural planning with natural, authentic materials. In this approach, luxury is found in the freedom to breathe, the honesty of surface materials, and the seamless continuity between built structure and natural environment. The custom furniture and locally-crafted details strengthen the home's tactile character, while the building's overall geometries pay homage to mid-century Athens architecture.
For Margaritoglou and Tsergas, designing their own home presented both unprecedented creative freedom and significant responsibility. The process became a living laboratory for exploring the values of comfort and human connection that they bring to every client commission, allowing them to test and refine their design principles in the most personal setting possible.
