Astir Beach and Resort

Glyfada Beach, Attica, 1955-58

Architects
Pericles Sakellarios (1903-1985)
Emmanuel Vourekas (1905-1993)
Prokopios Vassiladis (1912-1977).
Associate architects
Antonis Georgiadis (1921-)
Constantinos Decavallas (1925-)



On Glyfada beach, the Astir Hotels S.A., a subsidiary of the Commercial Bank of Greece, created the first organised beach and resort facilities in Greece after World War II. This was a highly influential project.
The resort was built around a small cove protected by two breakwaters. It consists of one hundred rented bungalows arranged in groups of 5-6 units, the Asteria restaurant dance hall on the north side, and the organised beach in which there are three groups of dressing rooms with 70 units each laid out around square courtyards, sports facilities, small shops and a refreshment bar. Each bungalow contains one room, an atrium, bath and small kitchen, and together they number some 200 beds.
The complex has three independent entrances: one leads to the organised beach, the second to the bungalows, and the third to the Asteria restaurant which was destroyed by fire.
The fact that the buildings are light structures organised into small groups contributed both to their harmonious integration into the natural environment and to the preservation of the human scale.
The entire complex has been treated in a modern and cosmopolitan way in accordance with the ideas of the period. It constitutes an original combination of various materials and styles, such as wooden structures, the use of aluminium panels, marble sheeting, visible brick masonry, etc.
The destruction of the Asteria restaurant by fire and subsequent low-quality additions have considerably downgraded the resort.

TRANSPORTATION