Reuse of Athienou Municipal Market as a Community and Cultural Centre

The design objectives involve sustaining the urban role of the building as a passage between the adjacent neighbourhood and the Agios Fokas church. The building is currently a community and cultural centre. Saving the building from demolition in the early 1990s and including it in the listed architectural heritage, as one of the most important buildings designed by Neoptolemos Michaelides, has been part of the design aims. The long-term design process (2001-19) includes revisions of the initial renovation study and meticulous documentation of the deteriorating abandoned building (2010-21).

The restoration design concept is based on the initial organisation of the building, comprising two spatial systems. The main one, defined by a "Y" shape two-story structure of exposed reinforced concrete frame, is restored to its initial condition. It used to cover the meat and vegetable shops. The secondary spatial system is remodelled to house the new program. It occupied the ground floor with shops and extended outside the canopy with a single-storey building. More precisely, the existing shops are removed except those at the four corners of the building, which are restored. The western part of the ground floor is kept free of structures, allowing for a linear public space with a stage at its north edge. An exterior wide ramp connects the stage with the adjacent street on the north side of the plot, maintaining the passage role of the building. The rest of the ground floor is remodelled to host a café, the citizens' centre, post office, public toilets, and storage space.

The design concept lies in the meticulous restoration of the main concrete frame and its glazed openings, as well as in the upcycling of the original shops’ timber and metal rollers. The concrete frame is preserved, without altering its original slim dimensions, thanks to its reinforcement with carbon fibre coating. The main ceiling is made of sound-absorbing recycled wood fibre panels. It is kept free of electrical and mechanical installations, emphasising its original state. All services are incorporated into the lower structures as well as in the new basement. The edge of the lower structures comprises a linear, undulating wooden frame filled with the reused former shops’ timber and metal rollers. The lower structure is reversible as it stands separately from the original main concrete frame. Its floor is made of antislippery-coated birch plywood. The main floor is made of poured terrazzo in the original colour. Thick black terrazzo lines form the plan of the removed original shops.