Golden Beach Metallic: A place-specific façade for a new Athens hotel, by Pieris Architects ―
The Thousand Vines Hotel is the newest project by Pieris Architects, now in the final stages of construction. Rising amidst typical residential buildings from past decades, the hotel design introduces an innovative typology, consistent with the shifting character of the city. Its most prominent feature is its metal-clad façade, both an urban gesture and a place-specific reference which is an essential part of the hotel branding by architecture: by carefully considering the requirements of the program and the location, the façade allows the hotel to stand out in a very competitive local market of short and mid-term accommodation.
The hotel is located at Ambelokipi, one of the most densely populated areas of Athens. The name Ambelokipi derives from the Greek words, “vineyard” and “garden”. Until the end of the 19th century, the region was covered with dense vegetation and fields with just a few rural residences and holiday villas. After World War II, the region joined the city plan and Abelokipi was developed rapidly to cover the needs for housing for the large masses of Greek refugees moving to Athens. Nowadays, Abelokipi is a multicultural area populated by locals, new immigrants and university students. The building will act as a landmark to the area celebrating the diversity of the neighbourhood and capturing the history of the region.
The Hotel has seven floors and consists of seventeen studio apartments on the upper floors, a ground floor reception and café, gym and laundry facilities and a roof top swimming pool.
The building appears as boxes stacked on top of each other. The façades are made of two types of aluminum liners of different densities that provide privacy to its residents. In front of each terrace, movable shutters can be adjusted to provide guests the desired amount of daylight and privacy.
Considering the area’s human ecology, the design complements the surrounding cityscape at ground floor, by providing communal spaces ideal for social interaction establishing a welcoming environment that facilitates gatherings for hotel outsiders too.
Elements of nature on each floor act as a common thread between spaces, offering privacy and creating a soothing atmosphere. Every level is filled with vine trees, shrubs and other indigenous trees carefully planted depending on the orientation of each terrace. The dense vegetation offers the residents a sense of privacy and a “rus in urbe” experience which is lacking in the neighborhood.
The color on the aluminum components makes an additional reference to the building’s character, which is dedicated to tourism accommodation: Golden Beach Metallic is the chosen superdurable powder coating from AkzoNobel’s Anodic Collection. The smooth, matt metallic color is evocative of shimmering sand, with a white-golden hue and an anodic effect, that will stand out among the growing vines. When complete, the alternating shutters, and their uncompromisingly urban color, will mingle with nature, as it once grew in the now densely built inner-city district.
The building has a robust environmental character with a minimum energy footprint integrating shading, planting and Pieris.Architects’ dedicated sustainability approach.
Architecture: Pieris Architects
Color: Golden Beach Metallic | Code: YW255F
