A MIXED – USE BUILDING B10

At a 645 square meter lot located in a central district of Panorama, Thessaloniki, we designed and supervised the construction of a small-scale building.

The idea was to develop a flexible but virtual building for the area. Panorama is a famous high-profile suburb of Thessaloniki lacking in buildings that can incorporate mixed use architecture.

The existing lot, with a 15m frontage (width) to the public road and 42m depth measurement, contains a two-storey building at its south side and a 50-year-old two-story building at the north side. We felt the need to add something fresh but also challenging to the building projects. Volumes interplay at the two levels; and this is the critical point of the design. These two distinctive volumes, at each level characterized by different geometry and coating material, give a sense of ‘sliding’, while their projections underline the sense of cantilevers.

The building comprises a basement level with a support area for the ground floor. A central entrance leading to the two levels used for offices is located at the ground floor. The storeroom on the ground floor has been designed in such a way as to offer multiple possible uses. There is an open-plan layout for offices where openings create a flexible environment for the user. The facades of offices have large openings and suitable shading arrangements which ensure pleasant working and living conditions.

The structure of the building is a game of angles, shapes and forms whilst the use of visually cold (concrete) and warm (HPL floor panels) materials is a contrast of high quality aesthetic architecture enhancing the ‘virtual aspect’ of the building we desire. The surrounding area follows the same pattern, ‘playing’ with various levels, there is a small difference in height and emphasis is placed on the plants around the building, thus underlining the microclimate there.