A tired, 40-year-old commercial building in the city's northern suburbs has been reborn as a fun, contemporary Athens workspace by London- and Athens-based architecture studio Neiheiser Argyros. Named Art1 Office, the project, for design-led developer Hellenic Properties, offers a fresh take to office architecture by blending sharp geometric shapes, bright colours and quality materials that balance elegance and a playful, vibrant atmosphere.
Led by the studio founders Xristina Argyros and Ryan Neiheiser, the architecture team worked with the building's existing bones, revealing existing surfaces while adding bold elements that transformed both the exterior and interior of the original structure. ‘What used to be a confusing muddle of geometric clashes is now untangled and rearticulated as if the building is composed of twelve separate buildings, each with its own cladding logic and interior atmosphere,' the team explains.
Subtle colour variations of white, grey, black, and gold highlight the building's exterior and celebrate its modern shapes and discrete volumes. In a similar vein, inside, strategic splashes of colour throughout mix gracefully with the existing black marble flooring that has been restored, and the exposed concrete formwork ceiling structure. The juxtaposition of rawness and polish of these elements creates a well-balanced whole that draws the visitor in and showcases dynamism and a thoroughly contemporary attitude.
Neiheiser Argyros' redesign was not just about aesthetics. ‘The building incorporates a range of sustainability strategies – high-performance insulation and windows, the use of local natural materials, low-energy MEP systems, charging stations and bike parking, and integrated photovoltaic panels – and achieves the local A+ highest energy efficiency grade,' the architects said. Meanwhile, a green roof and a circular pergola crowning the top of the building invite users to connect with the green outdoors and the cityscape beyond this modern Athens workspace.
-
Larry Booth's 'House of Light' showcases an impeccable slice of postmodernist heritageA 1980s Larry Booth-designed Chicago townhouse on a narrow plot is a striking example of his author's work, set alongside the city’s postmodernist archive
-
SolidNature and Sabine Marcelis make a splash with ‘The Vondel Fountain, Stacked’ in AmsterdamWe see stone company SolidNature’s fountain unveiled during Amsterdam Fashion Week, and speak to its CEO learn about the brand’s past and future
-
'I’m So Happy You Are Here' chronicles the work of Japanese women photographersSubtitled ‘Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now’, this new monograph from Aperture is a fascinating insight into a critically overlooked body of work
-
Piraeus Tower is a Greek high-rise icon revived through sustainable strategiesThe restoration of the Piraeus Tower is completed in Greece, revealing a revived façade by local architecture studio PILA
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
-
Tour House D in Athens, where interiors are peachy keenDesigned by Cometa Architects, House D in Athens is full of curvy, colourful character
-
Three Object Apartment embraces raw concrete honesty in the heart of AthensThree Object Apartment by DeMachinas is a raw concrete home in Athens, which confidently celebrates its modernist bones
-
Modernist architecture: inspiration from across the globeModernist architecture has had a tremendous influence on today’s built environment, making these midcentury marvels some of the most closely studied 20th-century buildings; here, we explore the genre by continent
-
Residence in Dionysos was conceived as a minimalist ‘cave refuge’ outside AthensResidence in Dionysos by Desypri & Misiaris Architecture is a family home designed as a minimalist refuge among the surrounding nature's pine tree-filled slopes
-
This Greek villa's superyacht aesthetics conceal two self-contained family residencesA Greek villa in the upscale Athens suburb of Filothei, House Symbiosis is home for two sibling families, designed in white, sweeping volumes by Direction Architects
-
A Filothei house rises to the occasion in its angled Athens plotA Filothei house by Kallos Turin is an Athens residence rising to the occasion on an angled plot
