Bennigan's - [Thessaloniki]

Bennigan's Opens Resort-Style Restaurant in Thessaloniki, Greece

Bennigan's Grill and Tavern has broken the mold with its latest international restaurant opening in Thessaloniki, Greece. The 11,000 square-foot beachfront restaurant is a first of its kind for the casual dining chain.

“This is a completely new venture for Bennigan's, said Vince Runco, president of worldwide franchising and executive vice president for Metromedia Casual Dining, which oversees the Bennigan's concept. “The restaurant appeals to local residents as well as vacationers with its resort-style atmosphere and casual dining feel.

The restaurant overlooks the Aegean Sea and features an outside pool with a swim up bar, a walk up bar, volleyball courts, children's play area and seating for 400 guests. The restaurant's interior caters to the city's lively nightlife with a club-style bar, couches and multiple televisions. The concept was developed by franchisee Crown Resorts and is the group's third Bennigan's location.

This restaurant marks Bennigan's 51st international location and the company plans to continue expanding overseas.

S-MALL - [Trikala]

A new commercial mall in the city of Trikala

OLD City - [Volos]

A new shopping area is going to be created in the city of Volos, in central Greece. The goal of the developers is to create a place where small shops can collaborate in order to survive, so as to achieve better prices, largest space and variety, and of course easiness.

The building Complex is centrally located and consists of the old factory of "Germanikou" which is going to be renovated, as it is declared a "listed building". OLD City is going to be created in 15.000 sq.m. and will have 12.500 of covered space.

There will be five buildings in total:

A: 400 sq.m. ground floor (200 x 2 for a bank and a restaurant)
B: 1000 sq.m. ground floor (28 stands for clothing and apparel)
Γ: 2250 sq.m. ground floor (84 stands for food and vegetables)
Δ: 1500 sq.m. ground floor (39 stands for a variety of shops)
Δa: 1500 sq.m first floor (34 stands for services)
E: 3.600 sq.m ground floor (61 stands for a variety of shops)

Sources:
http://www.oldcity.gr

Citylink - [Athens]

Citylink is the biggest retail store in the Balkans. It is owned by Piraeus Bank.



The historical building stands between two subway stations and close to three large hotels ("Grande Bretagne", "King George II", "Athens Plaza"), the Parliament, the National Garden, opposite splendid architectural creations, the Library, the Catholic Church and the University. Citylink has a total area of 65.000 sq.m..

Citylink - an investment over 250 mil Euros - will host the "ATTICA", a department store for famous brands, restaurants, health & fitness club and the two renovated theaters, "Pallas" and "Aliki".

Sources:
http://www.atticadps.gr/TheBuilding

Links:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=206665

"Ethniki Asfalistiki" Headquarters - [Athens]

The new headquarters of "Ethniki Asfalistiki" (Εθνική Ασφαλιστική), a mainstream greek insurance company


It is an eponymous architectural work, bearing the signature of Mario Botta. The complex consists of two buildings. The first one is used completely by "Ethniki Asfalistiki", with a total area of 30.000 sq.m. while the second one (4.500 sq.m) will be rented. According to the rumors, "Ethniki Asfalistiki" is asking for 23E/sq.m. which is considered exceptionally high for the standards of the local market. It has to be mentioned that "Ethniki Asfalistiki" is releasing 19.000 sq.m. of office space.



The construction phase was between 2004-2006. The whole group of architects is Mario Botta, along with Irena Sakellaridou and Morfo Papanikolaou, the same group that has deisgned the new headquarters of the National Bank of Greece

Sources:
www.botta.ch

Museum of the Hellenic World - [Athens]

The design proposal focuses on the concept of a museum of history - not original historical exhibits. The design principle is based on the spatio-psychoanalytic concept of lack (deeply routed in Greek culture) as a critique against the notions of 'collection'/ 'acquisition'. Both as sense of loss of original pieces as well as creative spatial process, lack, led to the formulation of a new museological approach integrating exhibition and builiding into one. Spatiality is conceived, psychoanalytically, as the mode of history, and highlighted both as the major diachronic documentation of Greek civilisation (recurring, homeomorphing, collocating) and the main concept of the building: a spatial monument as opposed to a symbolic memorial.

The proposed continuous strip, self-evolving across the building, produces homeomorphic curved schemes in three distinct, spatial gestures/installations: a) the amphitheatre introducing Classical Antiquity, b) the dome introducing Byzantium, c) the sheltering cell introducing Modern times (17th - early 20th century), covering the overall museum space. Accordingly, three distinct lighting treatments are proposed: a) bright daylight, small sharp shadows, b) indirect, ambient, no shadows, c) cinematic side-lighting, long shadows. Yet, the strip surface employs a gradient synthesis of materials and construction techniques - varying from: a) tectonic, marble, stone, b) cast material, c) timber, glass and metal structures. Client: Foundation of Hellenic World, Athens. Total exhibition space: 6000 sq.m

The building includes an exhibition area, and a Virtual Reality Cave (370 sq.m). It is located on Piraeus Street. It also includes 3250 sq. m of parking space, auxiliary spaces of 1550 sq.m and and visitor's service space of 1000 sq.m


Source:
http://www.anamorphosis-architects.com/projects/ime/project_IME.html

House of Letters and Arts - [Athens]

On 25th January 2002 an agreement was entered into with "ARCHITECTURE STUDIO", an architecture office registered in Paris to draw a conceptual design of a cultural centre called “The House of Letters and Arts”, following an international call to prospective tenderers for the conceptual design of the Project.

The Project was launched in Autumn 2002 and it is expected to cost approximately € 50 million in addition to the cost of the land.


The height of the building will be 27m. with a total area of 18,000 sq.m., consisting of the following:

• A large amphitheatre with seats for approximately 1,000 spectators and a stage for a symphonic orchestra, theatrical performances, opera, dance, cinema, lectures, conferences of high standards, etc.

• One hall with 300 seats for smaller musical, theatrical or dance performances, lectures, special audiovisual projections (multimedia, virtual reality), conferences of high standards, etc.

• A 1,000 sq.m floor approximately for art exhibitions

• An electronic library

• A professional recording studio

• A restaurant with an open-air area for cultural events able to seat 200 people approximately

• Auxiliary rooms and reception halls

• Underground storeroom and garages for the users

Source:
http://www.architecture-studio.fr/
http://www.onassis.gr/greek/cultural/index.php