“ATRINA” Office Tower in Maroussi

Year:1979
Location:32 Kifissias Avenue, Maroussi, Athens
Client:Babis Vovos - Diethnis Techniki S.A.
Status:Completed
Images:Dimitris Kalapodas
Sector: Offices & Administration, High Rise

This prominent high-rise tower consists of three vertical rectangular prisms of different height, which are non-symmetrically set back along the axis of their narrow façades. All sides are formed by the uniform grid of reflective glass curtain walls.

An advanced and innovative for the time technology of glasspanes was applied on this building, which aimed for maximum exploitation of the material. The glass, as cladding material (e.g. instead of marble or aluminum sheets) was suggested as the optimum solution for the style and identity of the high-rise building, to make it look as uniform and light as possible. Behind its uniform simplicity, the building has a clear interior configuration, with vertical circulation cores and auxiliary areas in the center.
In contrast to the Tower of Athens, the elevations in this case result from the repetition of one single module, to achieve maximum “uplift” on the prisms, as they emerge from the ground without having an end on any height. To enhance that light effect, the whole structure was concealed behind the curtain wall.
The “Atrina” complex became the first building to mark the expansion of corporate buildings along the north axis of Kifissias Avenue, far beyond the boundaries of the city of Athens at the time.

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