Sketching out the new Gundari boutique resort in Folegandros, the Athens studio Block722 began with the Cycladic island’s golden cliffs and worked inward. The outer walls, built up using limestone excavated from the site, look like ancient ruins, rising and dipping with the landscape. Within them are 80 sun-lit acres, softened and cooled with hundreds of indigenous plants.
Using this framework, the architects carved out 27 suites and villas with private pools and sea views. The rustic, textured walls here are rendered in calming neutral tones. Floors are laid in local unpolished marble, while interiors are built from wood, from custom bathroom vanities to the outdoor dining areas. Clever cut-outs in the walls frame views up and down the cliff, and lead to private outdoor showers.
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Credit: Gundari
Dining spreads over the northwest corner of the site, in spaces cooled by the breeze and shaded by natural limestone walls. In the evening, tables face the setting sun. The chef draws from the hotel’s own organic vegetable garden—guest requests from the range of produce are welcomed. There’s also a small indoor-outdoor spa for healing treatments and a below-ground mineral pool. But Block722 has ensured water trickles through the entire property, bringing the Aegean within close reach.
