Best of 2020: The Orbit

The project involves the refurbishment of a 9-storey building, occupying an entire inner-city block; bridging the two existing wings becomes the central gesture. The new bridges create a core that organizes vertical circulation. The main axis accommodates the entrance and lobby, and the back features double-height bridges that become the open-air sky gardens to the building, places where employees can rest and socialize. The urban identity of the building is transformed through bioclimatic fins in white strips, crossing through the building and providing shade to the offices. The façade contains planted areas, allocated through the entire building height. The composite curtain wall includes interchanging class strips and fins; the section of the fins creates containers for soil, augmenting greenery along the whole perimeter. Furthermore, the exterior stairwells are dressed in vertical gardens. Thus, the total planted surface becomes comparable to what could be provided if the surface of the plot was planted at 90%, as a green park.

Lianou Chalvatzis Architects

Ι&Α Vikelas and Associates Architects

George Fakaros

ek 246 – April 2020