Shipping Company office building

69 Akti Miaouli St, Piraeus, 1973-1975

Architect
Andreas Vourekas-Petalas (1944-)
Cooperating architects
Ioanna Misyri-Katsikarou
Dimitris Kanonis



Built on the main seaside thoroughfare of Piraeus, this modern office building is a remarkable and tasteful application of the international brutalist code. It is a ten-storey structure designed by Andreas Vourekas-Petalas and his associates and built on a lot facing two streets, the front on Akti Miaouli and back on Efploias St. It was constructed in the row-building system and the open space was landscaped with particular care. The basement and ground floor have 100% coverage. Part of the volume at the back was left free from the second floor level up to the roof garden.
The building has two different entrances owing to the different street levels, the main entrance from Akti Miaouli and the second one on the back street. The basement includes a lecture hall and exhibition area on the side of Akti Miaouli, which can be used independently of the rest of the building. They can also be united, and can communicate with the cafeteria. These areas are two storeys high with lofts at certain points. The cafeteria is roofed by curved glass and looks out onto the interior atrium. In the basement there is a garage and service area. The office space extends from the first to the sixth floor, is without columns, and laid out in an open plan system. The plan of the floors is articulated into two wings joined together by the vertical circulation core.
The elevations of the upper floors consist of pre-cast concrete elements with deep areas to provide protection from the sun on a simple rectangular grid. The double height of the ground floor is differentiated and treated with round columns and intervening glass panels.

TRANSPORTATION