Tella Thera, Crete, Greece
Tella Thera embodies biophilic minimalism, where architecture emerges naturally from the Cretan landscape. Green roofs planted with olive and Mediterranean species enhance biodiversity and thermal performance, whilst sculpted forms echo the island’s vernacular heritage. Venetian-inspired arches and cave-like interiors are reinterpreted through continuous microcement surfaces, creating calm, tactile spaces shaped by light and shadow. The design removes excess, allowing climate, material and horizon to define the experience — offering a refined retreat rooted in authenticity, belonging and environmental harmony.
Location:
Kissamos, Crete, Greece
Year:
2025
Type:
Hotel
Status:
Built
Size:
3.200 sq.m
Photography:
Christos Drazos
Tella Thera redefines Mediterranean hospitality through an architectural language that is both rooted in tradition and oriented towards sustainability.
Conceived as a sanctuary outside Chania, the project explores how cultural memory, and contemporary design can converge to create a new model of regenerative hospitality.
The façade is articulated through a sequence of arches—full and half forms—that abstract the vernacular geometries of Venetian and Ottoman Chania.
Conceived as a sanctuary outside Chania, the project explores how cultural memory, and contemporary design can converge to create a new model of regenerative hospitality.
The façade is articulated through a sequence of arches—full and half forms—that abstract the vernacular geometries of Venetian and Ottoman Chania.
Location:
Kissamos, Crete, Greece
Year:
2025
Type:
Hotel
Status:
Built
Size:
3.200 sq.m
Photography:
Christos Drazos
Kissamos, Crete, Greece
Year:
2025
Type:
Hotel
Status:
Built
Size:
3.200 sq.m
Photography:
Christos Drazos
Guests experience luxury through authenticity and intimacy with Crete’s timeless landscape.
Tella Thera is not a hotel that sits on the land but one that grows from it.
The motif continues internally, where continuous microcement surfaces unify floors, ceilings, and walls.
The cave-like atmosphere evokes natural shelters, offering a tactile calm where light and shadow shape spatial experience.
The façades are articulated through a sequence of arches, full and half forms that abstract the vernacular geometries of Venetian and Ottoman Chania.
Tella Thera embodies biophilic minimalism, where architecture emerges naturally from the Cretan landscape. Green roofs planted with olive and Mediterranean species enhance biodiversity and thermal performance, whilst sculpted forms echo the island’s vernacular heritage.
