On a 1000 sq.m. plot on the outskirts of the center of Volos (pl. 150,000) a new 1100 sq.m. building will host the “Children’s Center” on the ground floor and the Municipal Library for young people on the first floor. On the second floor a multifunctional hall will be offered for public activities of citizens.
OPEN PROGRAM/ OPEN PLAN
A concrete, cubic building is placed eccentrically on the plot, to leave free outdoor space for the center’s outdoor activity, open like a square to the city. The building type favors the repetition of an open floor plan three times in height. It is encased externally in iron frames on all four sides, outside the closed cube.
BIOCLIMATIC CUBE
The iron frames that wrap the building cube have an obvious goal: to control sunlight, shade, wind, and the general climatic conditions of the outside and inside. The framing of the building reshapes the boundary, producing intermediate spaces of light and shadow, outdoor and indoor space. Climbing plants will cover the surfaces created by the frame with wooden slats/boards, which climb up the building like scaffolding.
EXTERNAL “LIBRARY” INSTALLATION
An installation of small stainless steel panels is attached to the wooden blinds, at the level of the first floor where the library is located internally. Thus, the incoming light is controlled. At the same time, in the external image of the building, the scaffolding is “read” as a library, making a notational reference of attraction to the internal life of the building. (in collaboration with the artist A. Psychoulis).
Collaborators: Vasia Lyri, Konstantinos Sarantis
Energy and bioclimatic design: Aris Tsagkrasoulis
Visual Design: Alexandros Psychoulis
Static Design: Nikos Hatzinikolaou