The post Shop & Trade | Office Building in Tavros was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The post Antenna Group HQ & Media Center in Kifissia was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The post The Wave | Reconstruction of an Office Building in Athens was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The project involves the redesign of a five-story building to cover the needs of a large investment group targeted towards new technology companies. The layout is organized in three elongated zones, with the middle one including vertical circulation and two enclosed atriums. In the other two zones, at the edges of the building shell, open workspaces interchange with closed offices, conference rooms, and circulation and service areas. The architectural vocabulary relies on simplicity, with clear volumes and linear elements, and on transparency, through glass partitions which increase the feeling of spaciousness. In the common areas and around the atriums, oak benches are combined with linear storage units, lockers, and wooden claddings, integrating the vertical surfaces. The same principles were applied to the design of furniture, in the material and finishings selection, colors and textures, as well as in the choice of office equipment. The aim was to create a visually articulated, discreet environment, which facilitates and promotes good spatial functioning.

Gkotsis Serafimidou Architects

George Μessaritakis

256 | April 2021

The post Olympia Group was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The new Cosmote TV building is the outcome of the transformation of a former industrial venue into offices and studios, aspiring to become a landmark for its area at large. Following the structure of the existing building, the design introduces three programmatic zones with different heights and qualities. In the middle, among the offices, television studios and technical rooms, the Plaza becomes the building’s central square, a meeting area for all employees. This “heart” of the building, which includes open plan workspaces, is endowed with a mezzanine and a bridge, connecting separate sectors. Along the bridge, existing columns were treated as “trees” growing from the ground, with their “branches” covering the “sky” of the Plaza. The transformation of the building relied on the use of high-tech tensile membrane in the interior, while the curved white zones of bioclimatic cantilevers provide shade at a distance from the façade, in a strikingly dynamic result. 

LC Architects

George Fakaros

256 | April 2021

The post Cosmote TV was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

PPP1 building is part of the wider project of reusing the former facilities of “Papastratos” in the area of Agios Dionysios, in Piraeus. It is the first of seven buildings of Piraeus Port Plaza, a silo with tobacco warehouses, which was reconstructed in 2018 and converted into a green, LEED certified office building of 10,000m² with two floors and a capacity of up to 1,800 workstations.

KN Group, as a strategic partner of Teleperformance Greece in the development of its professional premises, undertook the elaboration of the building and spatial planning study, the technical specifications, the high supervision of the reconstruction, the Concept and Interior Design, the Branding Implementation, and the supply of equipment.

The aim of the design is to preserve the industrial architecture that prevails in the area, featured on the exterior of the buildings, and to benefit from the rich natural lighting and ventilation, which allows the sea breeze to pass through to the interior of the building.

Based on Piraeus, the shipyards are an important reference for custom-made furniture and equipment. In this context, the spatial networks of pipes create a continuous, multiform, and versatile structure throughout the floors, inspired by the forms and materials that are often observed on ships, but also the colors of the archipelago.

PPP1 launches Teleperformance’s new optical corporate brand identity for the first time worldwide. New design principles, new shapes and colors, a new logo with no precedent-setting examples, and practical solutions were the challenge for the KN Group that created a narrative of the new philosophy throughout the building using modern technologies, such as multimedia devices and units, and LED display. The umbrella sculptures in the central open-air space of PPP1, which take off the corporate identity of the customer, are now a landmark of the area.

The project turnout ensured a modern and functional work environment, which keeps each employee happy and serves the corporate goals.

KN Group

The post Piraeus Port Plaza 1 was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The project involves the radical renovation of the office building initially designed by Alexandros Tombazis (1972), a rare example of brutalist architecture in Greece. The first intervention resurfaced bare concrete in all the architectural components that had been clad or faced during the 50 years of the building’s operation. However, the interior did not revive its original image: Drastic interior rearrangements conform to the grid and dimensions of the module in the waffle roof slab, whose geometry was highlighted with the removal of all appliances or plasterboard cladding. The main intervention was the introduction of a functional access line, horizontally with seamless water surfaces and vertically with consecutive marble panels, integrating the main staircase. Earthen materials and clear, minimalist lines underscore the building’s brutalist elements by contrast. The architectural treatment of the facades is discreet, to showcase the character and overall concept of the building.

Georges Batzios Architects

The post Best of 2020: Office Building in Athens was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

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

The post Best of 2020: The Orbit was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The design of the headquarters for a Nicosia-based international software development company has as driving concept the construction of a building levitating over an open plaza; this space has the potential to become the condenser of all social aspects in the composition. Therefore, from the outset, the program prescribed the office development above ground level, and the latter was designed as the most public element in the project.

This public level accommodates the amphitheater, cafeteria, gym, outdoor relaxation spaces and swimming pool, with the parking exclusively underground. The ground level is lifted to create a socle, accessible from steps or from a ramp. The change in level of the plaza and the support of the building upon pillars, allows unobstructed views through the entire depth of the property. The coexistence of public, communal spaces on this level creates a container of life, enhancing the communal feeling in the framework of the building.

In the interior, office spaces are open and flexible, with varying degrees of privacy secured through panels whose transparency ranges from absolute opacity to absolute visibility. Moreover, all spaces enjoy natural light and ventilation and the atrium functions beneficially for the internal perimeter of the offices, as a source of light and fresh air. The building skin is organized through a system of vertically oriented shades and aluminum screens, facilitating or obstructing visibility according to the onlookers’ angle of view.

The structural system involves concrete slabs upon columns. The interior floors rest upon those supports, as well as upon closed “boxes” clad in mirrors, containing the indoor staircases and service areas. The reflection of the surroundings upon those two “supporting plinths” creates the impression of a black box levitating on top.

All interior finishes display reinforced concrete in different treatments, stainless steel and black-coated aluminum; the high ceilings leave mechanical and electrical equipment exposed as a spectacle.

The 3CX office building was a candidate at the European Union Prize of Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2019.

Michael Seroff, Soteris Papadopoulos

Creative Photo Room

ek magazine #236 April 2019

The post 3CX was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

TAKA + PARTNERS refurbished a two-story office building, located in Thermi, Thessaloniki. Τhe building has a total surface of approximately 300 m².

The architectural design combines the functional and aesthetic upgrade of the shell with the substantial improvement of the workplace environment. New technologies and energy management devices are integrated in the building.

The ground floor includes the reception and waiting area, the accounting unit, private offices, product sampling space, conference room, archive room and auxiliary rooms. The upper level accommodates private offices and auxiliary spaces.

Metal-detailed wood and concrete paneling indicates a functional workspace. The offices are separated with glass partitions, providing the room with clarity and unity. Interior corridors maintain visibility and allow the free flow of light. Green areas are integrated as creative and collective units for employees. The furniture is custom-made, while alternative lighting sources and skylights provide suitable lighting solutions for working.

KNX intelligent control and monitoring system manages lighting, air-conditioning, shading and safety systems. To that end, energy efficiency and lower energy consumption are achieved.

The building’s external shell is dressed in coated aluminum panels and large wall tiles. The outdoor fence is constructed with fair face concrete complemented with specially designed aluminum panels.

TAKA + PARTNERS

The post Office building in Thessaloniki was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.