The post Apartment Renovation in Neapoli was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The post Nestle Hellas Food Company in Maroussi was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Arranging a contemporary office space in separate workstations requires adaptability to ever-changing needs, flexibility, and a clear aesthetic output. Those were the project objectives in designing the new headquarters of Cactus digital marketing agency in Thessaloniki.

Open Space Office Design

The office space redesign had to be consistent with the vision of a contemporary company. The space features suggested an open space arrangement, and a clear separation of different units. This separation was achieved using indoor plants, namely cacti. Their linear configuration facilitates the flow of movement, the plants add color and become ornamental, and they contribute to sound absorption, given their placement among extensive hard surfaces.

Sound-absorbing Surfaces

Despite indoor vegetation, soundproofing remained an issue, given the ample height and extensive glazing. Therefore, custom, sound-absorbing surfaces were designed to confront the problem. Three long, trapezoidal structures made of three different materials were attached to the roof: Their shape and size provides adequate surface for applying sound-absorbing upholstery, specified against high frequencies such as talking, keyboard sound and telephones; concurrently, they have integrated linear lighting, consistent with the overall look and feel of the space. 

Wire Trays

True flexibility in an open space arrangement is only achieved when wires are channeled in a quick and efficient manner. Obviously, in a large space with smaller workstations, accommodating wires inside the walls is not advisable, therefore wire trays were attached to the roof. The latter are visible, with the trays forming a grid, and fabric wires in many colors adding to the overall aesthetic of the space.

Vardounioti – Koniordou Construction Workshop.

Aris Rammos

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

Open plan design

Located in Plaka, the historic center of Athens, the building dates back to the 1920s with typical eclectic architectural features on the front facade. The remodeling of the once small hostel to a home for a family of six was based on the removal of the old room partitions to create an open plan common area on the ground floor and the redesign of four large suites on the upper floors.

Custom-made fixtures

The prominent feature of the building, the elaborated high ceilings, are preserved and highlighted in contrast to the elimination of any ceiling decorations on modern houses. All fixtures and fittings are custom designed with luxurious and timeless materials such as the Greek marble from Naxos island, the dark oak wood and the bronze details. The outcome is an outstanding residence where the elegance of the original atmosphere is restored in a classical yet contemporary interior.

Demetra Karampelia & Divercity Architects

The post Neoclassical building renovation in Athens was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

This house was designed around the premise that, in such a special place, architecture could not ever compete or obstruct the nature around it. To fulfill that goal, the building was placed to be as close as possible to the century-old oaks and chestnuts without touching them. The house is reached from above and placed in a sharp slope; this combination of factors places the eye level of the habitants in line with the top of the trees, in perpetually shifting colors and movement motivated by the wind.

Located in north of Portugal, where vegetation is both dense and ever changing, this house aims at getting better connected to the nature; in the short period of construction, vines start to take control and the higher branches are already touching the glass: the fusion has started.

From the inside that connection is obvious: the exterior walls are all transparent and it is the furniture that defines the living spaces among in open floor plan. Through the different spaces, it is always possible to see the vegetation outside.

João Marques Franco

Primeiro Plano Audiovisual

The post Treetop House was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

In downtown Athens in the Exarchia district, Arcore engineers designed and carried out the refurbishment of an 75m² apartment.  The flat lies on the second floor of an early 70ies apartment block.

The initial layout was totally reorganized to suit the needs of a young couple and meet their aesthetic criteria. The original floor plan consisted of an entrance hall, a closed off kitchen, a living room, two bedrooms and a bath.  In accordance with the proposal, the new layout includes an open space kitchen -living room, one bedroom and a bigger bathroom. The living room is separated from the bedroom with the use of steel frame & glass sliding doors, which, when left open can add up to the open space of the living room. Moreover, through the glass doors, natural light can flow through and give a uniform level of light in the living spaces. The final proposal was based on the initial concept, which was the creation of an open living space, where there are no limits depending on the use of each space. The wooden floor is preserved and is combined with grey and wooden elements. Bicolored walls are proposed as an abstract reference to the aesthetics of the 70’s. Colour is also chosen for the bathroom. As for the furniture and the frames of shutters, natural materials and simple lines have been selected.

Arcore Engineers

Manolis Symeonidis

The post Apartment Renovation in Exarchia was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Axel Springer has launched a move from print to digital media. Its new building on the campus in Berlin acts both as a symbol and a tool in this transition – a building to lure the elite of (Germany’s) digital Bohemia. Bisected by a diagonal atrium that opens up to the existing Axel Springer buildings, the essence of the design is a series of terraced floors that together form a ‘valley’ that creates an informal stage at the centre – a place to broadcast ideas to other parts of the company.

The genius of print is that it is a cheap, physical, hyper-accessible embodiment of a complex collective effort, for which so far the digital has been unable to find an equivalent. Architectural offices are similar to newspapers in that they produce complex assemblies and selections from radically different sources of information.

As architects, we have experienced the advantages: speed, precision, smoothness. But we have also suffered one crucial consequence: the relationship between the worker and his computer, which isolates him in a bubble of introverted performance, inaccessible to collective overview.

In the classical newsroom, dominated by smoking, typing journalists, each inhabitant was aware of the labour and progress of his colleagues and of the collective aim: a single issue, with the deadline as a simultaneous release. In the digital office, staring intently at a screen dampens all other forms of attention and therefore undermines the collective intelligence necessary for true innovation.

We therefore have designed a building that lavishly broadcasts the work of individuals for shared analysis. The new office block is injected with a central atrium that opens up to the existing Axel Springer buildings – a new centre of the Axel Springer campus.

The design was developed around a series of terraced floors that together form a digital valley. Each floor contains a covered part as a traditional work environment, which is then uncovered on the terraces. Halfway through the building, the valley is mirrored to generate a three-dimensional canopy.

The common space formed by the interconnected terraces offers an alternative to the formal office space in the solid part of the building, allowing for an unprecedented expansion of the vocabulary of workspaces: a building that can absorb all the question marks of the digital future.

The public can experience the building on three levels – ground floor lobby, meeting bridge, and roof-top bar. The meeting bridge is a viewing platform from which the visitors can witness the daily functioning of the company and how it evolves. The ground floor contains studios, event and exhibition spaces, canteens and restaurants.

The building is situated opposite the existing Axel Springer headquarters on Zimmerstrasse, a street which previously separated East and West Berlin, at one of the city’s most significant locations.

OMA

Laurian Ghinitoiu

The post Axel Springer Neubau was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.