Acropolis Shop

Set along the footpath to the Acropolis, the new shop is nestled withing a confined and previously vacant sloped site. The brief called for an open-plan space, a dedicated children’s area and a small storage, with lightness of construction and openness to the surroundings, being the main considerations. As a response, it was conceived as a unifying canopy, under which enclosed and semi enclosed spaces are organized on a series of platforms arranged in response to the natural slope and the existing vegetation, while materiality drew inspiration from the natural and man-made surroundings.

Located within the greater archaeological site of Acropolis (a UNESCO Site) and along the marble-paved footpath that leads to it (a Listed Contemporary Monument), the design had to follow the preservation principle of Reversibility, with the biggest challenge being not to impose permanent alterations to the site. Along these lines, the new shop was conceived as a temporary structure with limited earthworks and alterations to the natural landscape as well as having in mind the minimum disturbance to its surroundings during construction. In terms of user experience and functionality, the needs of the client, the user and the place were approached as being aligned, through the openness to the surroundings, the creation of shaded areas, public spaces and the organization of the interior with segmented display wall units, interrupted by openings to the landscape. Access to the shop’s interior is from 3 directions, corresponding to the visitors’ movement along the greater area.

With the need for lightness and openness to the immediate environment as well as reversibility of construction being important design considerations, the new shop is built as a light steel structure resting on a semi exposed concrete foundation plinth. The canopy is supported by a series of orderly arranged slim freestanding columns juxtaposed to a system of irregularly placed walls cladded with GRC / ceramic panels that offer bracing and define the internal space of the shop and the surrounding external areas. To further accentuate the perception of a lightweight structure through transparency, these walls feature continuous horizontal zones of glass, both at their base and top, connecting interior space with exterior, thus expanding the boundaries of the shop. The palette of materials includes marble flooring, GRC / ceramic panels and green tinted zinc cladding for the roof as a response and reference to the adjacent pathway, the site’s soil and the surrounding foliage respectively.