When, in 2016, Papadaki was searching for an office for 10AM, she came across the old building. “Everything happened step by step. I was just looking for a space for the agency, but when I found this building, I saw it had so much potential and offered many more possibilities,” she explains. In a slow and thoughtful process, she transformed the building into the multifunctional location for creatives it is today. “We have a penthouse, a venue, and four lofts which are available for exhibitions, photo shoots, creative productions of all kinds, and private dinners,” she tells us. Each space, which Papdaki designed in collaboration with architecture firm Gavalas Ioannidou and Studio Andrew Trotter, has a unique character. Carefully selected design pieces, architectural interventions that respect the history of the building, and natural materials meet personal items —memories— that she has collected on one of her many trips abroad.
Papadaki herself lives on the top floor of the building—a penthouse offering an incredible 360-degree panorama of Athens. While the bathtub accommodates a sight on the Acropolis and the Parthenon, the living room allows for views as far as the port of Piraeus. “For this space, I wanted to create a feeling as if you were on top of an island, overlooking the city from all sides. We even chose plants for the terrace that usually just grow on the islands.” While the interior has a minimalist and calming atmosphere, combining objects of the past and the present, everything is purposefully selected and chosen. “One of my favourite pieces here are those Charlotte Perriand chairs,” she says, pointing toward four chairs surrounding a round wooden table. “I was living in Milan for a while, where I connected to many people from the design world. One day, I got a call that those four chairs were on their way to Milan from an old Palazzo in Venice. So I got up at six in the morning and ran to the market to get them before they were gone.” It’s one of the many stories we hear about the unique pieces in the place, all put together into a harmonic whole.
