We were asked to renovate the existing taverna, that sits in the cove underneath the Arionas Hotel in front of a sandy beach. Four Seasons envisioned this building as an updated Greek taverna that would operate throughout the day and into the night, offering the level of service implied by their brand but rooted in the Greek tradition of celebrating and sharing food in a beachfront location.
From the outset it was intentional that our proposal would be separated from the architecture of the cabanas above, taking its energy from the landscape so that it is in harmony with, and not attempting to compete with, the grander statements of the original modernistic structures. The pergola structures and volume of the original taverna were set into the landscape on two levels. This landscape of man-made dry stone terraces was our main inspiration when it came to designing the new taverna. Our proposal was to incorporate the building even further into it with new pergolas that would expand with its contours and blend into them.
