Mytilineos HQ (GR)

'This building is located on a plot of 12 acres that occupies the entire building block and already contains a building designed by the same architectural team in 2010. Two main features of the plot led to the placement of the new building. On the one hand, the axis of Paradise Street, which is an important road access to the area, and on the other hand the requirement to keep as intact as possible the idyllic garden surrounding the existing building.' The creation of a linear building along Paradise Street, which will adequately signal the existence of the buildings to passers-by and visitors, was considered almost only to be a single option, will act as a barrier between the heaviest traffic and the interior of the property and will ensure the preservation of the garden and the maximum relationship between old and new buildings with it. The new building has four levels. On the ground floor are placed all the public spaces: the reception, the meeting rooms, the multi-function room as well as offices with public service. On the first two floors are located the main office spaces of the company. On the third floor and in recess is the administration offices. The staff’s restaurant and recreation area is a ground floor building freely located in the garden between the two main buildings, so that it can be perceived as a meeting point and can be similarly taken ownership of old and new users of the complex. It is joined by the main buildings with a light linear metal roof and thus becomes a focal point of the stand between them. Architecturally, the expression of the existing building is attempted to be repeated to the new building, to create a harmonious single whole. Thus, the facades are shaped with large glazing that allow the maximization of natural lighting. Mobile sun protection elements automatically and depending on the sun movement regulate the impact of sunlight on the glass panes to optimize the lighting, without burdening the air conditioning of the building. The horizontal character also dominates the new building, with architectural overhangs, coated with the same natural stone as the existing one, forming its large facades on the main floors of the office spaces and the upper level with the offices of the administration having the corresponding signaling with the fixed aluminum panels in its natural color. Internally, a palette of materials of restrained and strict luxury was chosen that reflects the character of the user of the building with the main interest resulting from the qualities of transparency of semitransparency and reflection of the surfaces, with only the perforated panels as a playful element, that form ceilings and facades in the area of the restaurant. All the rest of the landscape area was planted in order to restore the garden’s continuity. At the same time, most of the roofs of the new building as well as the roof of the staff’s restaurant were planted to ensure insulation, improvement of the microclimate and aesthetic quality on the so-called “fifth side”. The new building received the international LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification at the highest possible level, Platinum, for environmental and sustainable buildings from the non-profit organization, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).