georges batzios architects revives building's original brutalist identity in greece

recovering an abandoned brutalist office in greece 

georges batzios architects brought new life into a rare example of the brutalist architecture movement in greece, erected in 1972 by the renowned greek architect, alexandros tombazis. the studio sought to revive its original brutalist identity, which was distorted during the years, passing through different hands.

employing drastic spatial interior rearrangements, the architects aimed to create a new office building unveiling a space hidden within the structure’s ‘subconscious’, but without being a faithful reconstruction. meanwhile, they stripped the previously ‘buried’ waffle ceilings to expose their original form — an important archaeological discovery that characterizes the new morphology of the interior.all images courtesy of giorgos sfakianakis

restoring the building’s concrete shell

the repair of the building’s concrete shell was separated into two phases: the first one was relative to the building’s reinforced concrete structure quality that as it proved out, only 5% of the building’s structure needed to be repaired or reinforced. the second phase was relative to the overall concrete appearance of the building, including its yellowish color made of previous tenants that distorted its original brutalist character. furthermore, as a large part of the concrete surfaces was heavily damaged, the athens-based studio, georges batzios architects, started with a deep cleaning of all the surfaces and the chemical analysis of the composition of the original concrete, to develop a cement-based skin.

exposing the ‘buried’ waffle ceilings

their intervention was primarily guided by the existing 1.2mx 1.2m grid which corresponds to the dimensions of the modules that make up the waffle concrete ceilings. this grid was the basis for every design intervention applied to the building; all the architectural and electromechanical elements are based on the design, nature, and three-dimensionally projected grid defined by the waffle ceiling slabs. moreover, in order to highlight that the geometry of the ceiling is the source of their entire design intervention, any type of mechanical or other equipment was removed, in contrast to the original condition of the building in which the concrete waffle ceiling was covered with various false ceilings and architectural electromechanical components.

marble-clad walls define the lobby

water element

the water elements are related to the client’s company profile. they are present in different spaces of the building but have different depths and textures. in the main lobby for example they combined all the elements that present a poetic version of the company’s profile, like the horizon, water, and the sun, always under the strict surveillance of the building’s ‘subconscious’ grid. it’s a place that changes continually during the day and through the seasons. an abstraction of nature and architecture.

waffle ceilings

cladding with glazings

project info:

name: office building in attica (formerly aget iraklis)
designer: georges batzios architects

design team:

architect engineer: spyros kleissas , olga keleki, stavros franzios, spyridoula kouloumpi, koukouzi konstantina, polyxeni elisabeth travlou,

civil engineer: klairi bakalidou, firfilioni tzovanna

architectural designer: manto monogyou, dimitris spathis

structural engineer: a karanikolas & associates, vassilis kapotis

e/m engineer: papagrigorakis & associates, tasos nikolaidis
architectural lighting design: luun
landscape architecture: helli pangalou & associates landscape architects
project management: ellinotechniki
construction: redex
area: 13.000 sqm

location: attica, greece

photography: giorgos sfakianakis

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina petridou | designboom