A Greek brutalist gem wows with its reimagining in Athens

On a generous, green site in one of Athens’ smarter northern residential suburbs, a strange concrete presence rises. The long, relatively low structure features unusual, almost retro-futuristic forms, screens that frame large openings and exposed textured concrete that make it clearly stand out from its neighbours. Locals know it well. This is not your typical Greek office building; it is the former headquarters of AGET Iraklis, one of Greece’s best-known cement manufacturers. It was designed in 1972 by one of the country’s most celebrated 20th-century architects, Alexandros Tombazis (see W*138).

The architectural landmark is emblematic of its creator’s style and early explorations of concrete and Metabolist architecture principles, such as the use of modular design and technology – this part of Athens also features his Iliako Chorio (meaning ‘Solar Village’, a 1980s experiment in environmental architecture) and his own office. The AGET building was left empty for seven years after the company moved out in 2010, but it has now been given a new lease of life by local architect Georges Batzios.

Tour a Greek brutalist gem reborn in Athens

‘I was on the island of Kythnos for work, and the client called me up out of the blue,’ recalls Batzios, who set up his boutique studio in the central Athens neighbourhood of Petralona in 2013, following an international career that included stints with »

Designed by Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis in 1972, the former HQ of cement manufacturer AGET Iraklis has been renovated for a new owner, restoring as much as possible of the original David Chipperfield in London and Jean Nouvel in Paris and New York. ‘The client and I hadn’t met before, but he’d seen my work, especially my work with concrete, and liked it, and he wanted to invite me to submit a proposal to a competition for the office building’s renovation. It was a lovely surprise.’

The client, part of a private company, was searching for the right architect to bring the structure into the 21st century without compromising its design intention and integrity. Batzios entered the competition and won, presenting a proposal that would work with the building’s strengths and concrete character, which over the years had been undermined, painted over and added to. The architect often uses naked concrete in his studio’s mix of commercial and cultural work, and he was delighted that a celebration of the material was central to the brief. ‘It’s not common in Greece for a client to ask for exposed concrete,’ he says. Renovation works started on site in 2017.

‘The building is a rare example of brutalist architecture in Greece,’ says Batzios. ‘Our aim was to respect and restore as much as possible the existing design’s intention, and maintain key features, its “bones” and textures. However, in terms of the interior, we didn’t want to create something that gets completely lost in the original. Instead, we took drastic, confident steps to bring to the surface a sequence of spaces that we feel were always there, in the original building’s “subconscious”.’

The architect studied Tombazis’ original drawings, and his interventions blend effortlessly with the old design. He first gutted the building and cleared any additions that compromised the original design’s conceptual strength. While the main concrete frame was of great quality and in excellent condition (‘Tombazis was a master in his use of concrete,’ Batzios points out), its surface was less so.

Batzios analysed the concrete mix to produce a treatment with local specialist Poriotis that would cover damage, while recreating a surface texture as close to the original as possible (this treatment also helped with temperature management and energy efficiency for the project). He reworked the main entry to expand the original lobby, restore its water features and create a dramatic entrance. The building’s conference hall has also been expanded, with a service room to accommodate modern technologies.

Guided by the ceiling’s concrete grid, a new internal route was plotted through the double-height ground level, which also includes management areas and meeting rooms. This trajectory is arranged around a central axis, named by Batzios the ‘Golden Way’, and incorporates a striking, redesigned circular staircase of grey Cretan marble that connects all levels.

Terra grey and grey Evoian marble have been used on all the vertical surfaces of the central axis, creating a sleek but tactile finish. The 13,000 sq m building spans two more floors of office space – the slightly recessed second floor was added in 1978. The building’s new tenants have access to outdoor sports pitches on the tree-filled campus grounds, and an old heliport facility has been converted into a company gym.

Everything has been executed with meticulous attention to detail, from the way the marble slabs were cut, so that the veins appear continuous in large surfaces, to the concrete’s exact hues. ‘In fact, one of the biggest challenges was that the original grid, around which the building was designed, was not very precise, so we had to redesign everything in CAD in great detail so that our interventions fit exactly and the alterations are seamless,’ says Batzios.

Leading both the design and project management helped him get through this. ‘We got involved in all aspects of the project. This allowed us to have great quality control over the result, but also meant that everything went through us. I’m not sure I’d like to do that again!’ he says, laughing. Now fully refreshed and open for business, this piece of experimental Greek 20th-century architecture is ready for its next chapter. 

georgesbatzios.com

A version of this feature was first published in Wallpaper* November 2020