A small practice that designs buildings, the identities that live in them, and the objects you touch every day.
01 · About
Drawn by hand, built to be inherited
I trained as an architect in Athens and worked for ten years on restorations before opening my own studio in 2009. Restoration taught me the one rule I still follow: build as if someone will have to repair it in a hundred years.
In 2016 we opened a second room in Milan for identity and objects, because clients kept asking for the sign, the stationery and the door handle to come from the same drawing board as the building.
Today the practice is eight people. I lead every project myself, which is why we take on only two new buildings a year.
— Ilias Varenne
02 · Principles
Four rules carved over the door
I
Keep what works
If an old wall, floor or name still does its job, it stays. New work earns its place.
II
One hand, every scale
The same person draws the plan, the mark and the handle, so they agree.
III
Price before pencil
Every stage has a fixed fee agreed in writing before anything is drawn.
IV
Come back in a year
Every project ends with a visit after the first winter, to fix what it found.
03 · Timeline
Seventeen years, in brief
2009
2013
2016
2019
2022
2025
2026
04 · The studio
Eight people, two rooms
Small on purpose. Everyone works on every project, and every client has my number.
3
Architects
Athens
2
Designers
Milan
1
Model maker
Athens
2
Project managers
Both studios
05 · Recognition
Prizes and shortlists
Aegean Architecture Prize · Shortlist
Aegean Architecture Foundation
2026
Premio Pietra · Restoration
Fondazione Pietra Viva
2023
Gold · Workplace
Workplace Design Circle
2025
Object of the Year
Salone Editions Review
2026
Lobby of the Year
Hospitality Interiors Review
2024
Identity · First Prize
Type & Mark Annual
2025
House of the Year · Islands
Cycladic Building Society
2024
Small Building Award
Mediterranean Design Forum
2025