“River West“ Shopping Center

Year:2010
Location:96-98 Kifissou Av., Egaleo
Client:Viohalco Group of Companies
Status:Completed
Images:Alexandros Kolokythas, Panagiotis Voumvakis
Collaborators: Tombazis & Associate Architects
Sector: Retail

This building is part of a complex which also includes a department store and a common underground parking station. The main area of commercial stores has a rectangular plan and develops on three levels around an internal, depressed atrium of elliptical shape.

Two “hovering“ moving ramps connect the floors, running diagonally across the atrium’s void, lending a certain vigour to it. The ground floor pedestrian access corresponds to the intermediate level of the building’s second storey, while approach from the underground parking areas is through the atrium base – first level below ground. Restaurants and a café are located mainly on the upper level, arranged parallel to the front façade glass curtain walls, in order to provide view towards the atrium, the avenue and the Acropolis further back.
Externally, aluminum panels of two colours are used for the cladding of the building ventilated façades: white and grey-silver. In contrast to the white colour that dominates the main facade, its partial cladding with multi-coloured opaque glass panes is proposed to architecturally mark the commercial use of the building. For natural and easy access from the avenue, the impression of a reception form is created by means of an acute diagonal chamfer that converges to the entrance point.
The bioclimatic design of the building incorporates strategies that enhance the sense of visual and thermal comfort and at the same time improve its energy performance. The moving steel space-frame on the atrium’s roof is a principal element that protects the circulation areas from the weather conditions and opens when the weather is good, especially during summer nights, releasing the accumulated heat.

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