Office and commerce block

The structure’s orthonormal volume adheres rigidly to the boundaries of urban-planning. To this end the resulting attenuation of the corner augments the visual link to the natural terrain from the main road as it emerges in the background. The concept was drawn from the interpretation of the element of ‘perspective’. By putting an emphasis on perspective, the design interprets the ‘gaps’ in the structure’s shell as “interruptions – outlets”, a symbolic reference to the vertical to the highway streets and a visual avenue of communication with the nearby hills. In this manner, it is as if the urban facade was vertically raised. The structure’s shell is organised in accordance to a system of ‘blank – canvases’ in ‘motion’, with engravings along their contours, that reinforce the sense of perspective. The surface is uniformly clad in wood- a natural material – on a ‘random’ grid, drawing nature into the built-up urban complex. The synthesis as a whole juxtaposes in an evident manner against the stereotypical facades, curbing the monotony of structural facades. Interior spaces are compartmentalised in an evocative manner. The continuous exchange of the exterior envelope from compact to transparent seems to ‘dissolve’ shapes and boundaries, this in its turn attributes to a sensation of fluidity within these spaces, and at the same time it allows for natural light to permeate into the heart of the building. Thus, the interior structure, in combination with the rhythm of the exterior apertures, set the framework to provide where necessary the conditions for privacy and at other areas to create visual links with city life. Two underground spaces form the parking lot, storage and …. spaces. Customers can enter and exit via a vertical to the highway street via a ramp. On the ground floor, four stores span two floors and can be accessed from Veikou str. Planning on this level has provided an alternative that allows the formation of up to eight stores. From this street, access can also be gained to all other levels liberating the facade for the development of store windows. All four upper floor levels have a typical layout ideal for office, medical and other spaces of similar use. A system of light panels has been selected as a flexible solution to the development of partitioning. Panels consist of compact and transparent parts to facilitate floor capacity on each level allowing for up to three fully independent to each other functioning areas. Moving upwards from the ground floor each level is slightly inferior to that below, as a result at the level of the street corner a large veranda looks out onto the highway in one direction and to the hills in Psihiko to the east.