Ships’ Base for the Prosecution of Smuggling in Athens

Neo Faliro, Attica, 1997-1998

Archtects
Panagiotis Grammatopoulos (1959-)
Christos Panousakis (1960-)
Cooperating architect
Christos Lavranos



The Base for Ships engaged in the prosecution of smuggling is a compositionally and stylistically original public building that received an award in 2000 in the first such competition established by the Hellenic Institute of Architecture.
It was built on a difficult, oblong lot in Neo Faliro between the Peace and Friendship Stadium and the sea, and houses three different functions: (a) administration, communications, operational control and personnel; (b) maintenance, and (c) storage area for parts. In the architectural solution, these three functional units are independent and in terms of volume, are expressed in an equal number of spindle-shaped forms that draw attention away from the building’s oblong shape. The partition of the oblong building is emphasised by the treatment of its three units and the alternation of open-air and roofed areas. The linking of the three main elevations by semi-open areas allows optical contact between the Stadium and the sea.
The treatment of the volumes and the façades, inspired by drawings of ships, is intended to function as an intermediate feature between the floating and constructed elements that surround the building.

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