MOLD ARCHITECTS CARVES A RETREAT INTO SERIFOS’ ROCKY SLOPE
Broad terraces cut through the rock of Greece‘s Serifos Island and turn toward the Aegean. MOLD Architects has set PERMA, a five-residence retreat, into this steep terrain, allowing planted roofs and stone-filled surfaces to continue the colors of the island while a concrete framework 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 the sea view. From above, much of the architecture reads as another layer of terracing across the slope.
images © Giorgos Sfakianakis
A CONCRETE GRID HOLDS STONE, WATER, AND SHADE
The team MOLD Architects uses a three-dimensional concrete grid as the retreat’s main structure, with each bay holding either an enclosed room or an open-air space. Some sections contain water, while others are filled with excavated earth or vegetation. Reeds filter the sun across terraces, and deep openings maintain visual connections between the protected interiors and the horizon.
This framework creates a steady rhythm without flattening the irregular site beneath it. Bedrooms and living areas sit alongside open rooms shaped by walls and overhead beams, extending the residences outdoors while retaining a sense of enclosure. Light passes through the grid at changing angles, drawing hard-edged shadows across concrete floors and rough stone.
PERMA occupies a rocky north-facing slope on the Greek island of Serifos
EXCAVATED STONE RETURNS TO THE ARCHITECTURE
Material removed during construction was reused across the project. Stone gathered from the excavation forms walls and fills portions of the grid, while the remaining earth shapes the wide terraces that step down the hillside. Local craftspeople cast the floors and built-in furnishings on site, giving benches, beds, and counters the same mineral character as the surrounding structure.
Rainwater is collected for irrigation, and edible plants grow across the roofs, placing working landscape directly above the rooms. These practical systems become part of the architectural language rather than concealed infrastructure. Across PERMA, MOLD Architects treats the site as both building material and spatial guide, turning an exposed Cycladic slope into a sequence of shaded rooms held between rock and sea.
a concrete grid organizes five residences across the steep terrain
planted roofs extend the surrounding ground over the enclosed rooms
reed screens cast shifting bands of shade across the outdoor spaces
stone recovered during excavation returns as walls and terrace infill
open rooms maintain long views toward the Aegean Sea
floors and built-in furnishings were cast on site by local craftspeople
project info:
name: PERMA Serifos Retreat
architect: MOLD Architects | @moldarchitects
location: Serifos Island, Greece
area: 270 square meters
completion: 2026
photography: © Giorgos Sfakianakis | @g_sfakianakis
lead architect: Iliana Kerestetzi
design team: Stefanos Maniatis, Maria Vrettou, Konstantinos Vlachoulis
structural engineering: Technodynamics
MEP engineering: TEAM M-H
lighting design: IFI
general contractor: Aris Sfikas
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