In the 1800s, the Greek port city of Piraeus, where Castor Place is located, was a booming maritime gateway. Almost entirely rebuilt after Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821, the city was designed as a modern commercial counterpart to neighbouring Athens, and became filled with shipyards and warehouses. The intervening centuries have seen its fortunes rise and fall dramatically; from a thriving industrial hub to a seedy stop-off point on the way to catch a ferry to the islands.
Tour Castor Place by MPNYC
Recent years, however, have seen clues emerge as to Piraeus’ next chapter. Various leading galleries and creative enterprises have begun reimagining its vacant warehouses as bustling cultural hubs, among the most striking examples of which is Castor Place — the multi-purpose events space designed by Manhattan Projects (MPNYC).
Forming its base is a 19th-century stone warehouse, upon which was placed a boxy extension when the space was transformed into a nightclub in the 1990s. 'It was a real Frankenstein building,' says Andreas Kostopoulos, who founded Manhattan Projects in 2019 after working as an associate director at Diller Scofidio + Renfro. 'There was this masonry base from the 1800s, which was all covered in this weird stucco when we arrived. And inside, it was all painted black. It looked like a haunted theatre.'
Kostopoulos’ brief was to give the building a sleek modern refit; stripping back decades of haphazard architectural interventions to create a functional, flexible space that could be used for everything from corporate dinners to fashion shows and art exhibitions.
The main hall features a 12m high ceiling, a wrap-around mezzanine level and travertine marble floors. Walls, Kostopoulos decided, should all be finished with a slick white-wash. 'By doing that, you sort of calm the whole space down, and you start reading all the layers. So you can see where there used to be an archway, where extra bricks have been added as well as all the structural steel elements.'
The cube-like roof unit was also refurbished to improve insulation (both in terms of acoustics and water), and a vast, vertical window was carved through it in order to flood the space with light. But for Kostopoulos, the real stand-out intervention is the bespoke cast-aluminium doors by local artist Stefania Strouza, who decorated them with an abstract pattern inspired by the mapping of ocean floors. 'They are one of my favourite things about the project. For me, they’re the real jewel of the building.'
