Conversion of existing industrial buildings into office building, including a restaurant and an industrial warehouse.

Unification of separate buildings through configuration of the surrounding area for the operational needs of the main E.J. Papadopoulos S.A. biscuit plant in Tavros, Attiki.

In April 2019, we undertook the reconfiguration of the 7th floor of the main Marks & Spencer Athens store, in order to relocate the company’s administration offices.

The design required the removal of all non load bearing elements on the floor. The facade reconstruction, together with the interior reconfiguration and machinery installation servicing the new offices was completed while the store that is located on nine storeys below the office remained in operation.

This project involved the usage change of an existing building in Piraeus, from its former use (as the Papastratos tobacco factory lithography building) into a state-of-the-art office building.

The contracted works included reinforcement of the bearing structure, architectural works for the office and public space areas configuration, installation of E&M networks and equipment, as well as the surrounding area landscaping and configuration.

The building covers a total plan area of approximately 14,000 square meters, including a basement, a ground floor, 6 floors and a loft. The basement contains the majority of E&M installations (power generators, UPS, data rooms, firefighting etc.), staff training rooms and a fully equipped kitchen for the almost 2,000  staff in the building. On the ground floor, public areas and dining areas are located, whereas all the upper floors are office spaces.

Despite its demanding nature and timeline, our company was able to deliver the project two months ahead of its contractual nine-month deadline.

The new Australian embassy comprises a whole floor of an office building in Athens and was
designed by the renowned Australian practice GHD Woodhead. gfra architecture was requested
to provide local architectural design and supervision services.

Architecturally the embassy recreates an Australian identity through the use of the warm
colours of authentic Jarrah wood from the Australian Eucalyptus tree. This wood was shaped
into waved walls and ceilings reflecting the Australian rocky landscape such as the famous
red rock Uluru. The main wave is positioned at the entrance behind the counters and guides
the visitor into the embassy. The central co-working area is indicated by a black wooden
pergola to reduce locally the scale. Further elements have been kept neutrally white and
black to emphasize the Jarrah, including the exposed ceiling which allows for LED lighting and
installations while providing maximum ceiling height.

Furniture consists of sit-stand workstations and selected design elements for waiting, meeting
and collaboration. Australian art such as contemporary Indigenous art, is specifically chosen for
the project and supplements the architectural design and Australian character.

The project is located near to Omonia square, at the city center of Athens. This area lacks green public spaces, hosts office building and markets in the main, and is characterized such a dense city fabric as a neglected part of downtown.

The two-floor design operation (3d and 4th floor) takes place in an existing office building with a specific obsolete model of workspace development. Strict arrangement of spaces, small and individual offices with a long, narrow and without light typical corridor in between.

For that reasons, the overriding concerns of the architectural approach aims to create a vital modern workspace with spacious offices in comfort, encourages teamwork, creativity, well-being and productivity.

The unification of the floors by opening voids to the middle slab, aims to connect them for utilitarian reasons and visually by increasing the relative height of the workspace.

In the main void a wooden staircase with amphitheater shape rises into the center of the plan uses such a literally connection of the floors as a gathering point of coworkers, a metaphorical Agora.

Working spaces are being organized as distinct subspaces responding to multiple working groups and at the same time are being presented as cohesive area for whole team by the use of transparent partitions.

Multiple green islands of vegetation within the office area are being used as meeting and relaxing areas create a paradox outdoor effect in the heart of the city center, reinterpreting the notion of workspace and re-establishing the contact with the nature inside the built environment.