SOLO Building

 

Site location: Nea Ionia, Athens, Greece

Gross floor area: 495,00 sqm

Design date: 2004

Project status: Complete, 11/2004

Photography: Antonis Karris

 

The building sits on a corner plot with an area of 110,16 sqm, on Irakliou Avenue (main elevation), a commercial artery in the north of Athens, in a rapidly developing area in a close distance from the Olympic Stadium.

The building designed to address with the needs of a small clothing company and to be used both as a commercial, office and storage space. It consists of a basement, ground floor, mezzanine, where the shop develops, the first floor is used as a stock clothes section, while the second and third floor is used as office spaces. All three floors are simple and flexible in design with the circulation to be placed at the back of the  building.

On the ground floor, the large window with the rounded corner is an effective feature to attract passers-by attention. Especially at night the shop seems to be part of the street, a focus point for all of the area. Second and third floor has large openings, providing the users of the spaces, with views to the city and plenty of natural filtered light. 

Externally it has been clad with gray aluminum panels fixed on metal frames that contrast with the white interior. Both main elevations are partly covered with a stainless steel wire mesh. Apart from its ornamental qualities, the steel mesh also functions as a protective screen reducing sunlight power, allow transparency from the inside to the outside, and the opposite, and creates interesting illuminations with artificial light at night.

 

The project participated the Architectural Review magazine AR Awards 2005 for emerging architecture.