CERTH 2.0 SUBPROJECT I THESS INTEC, THESSALONIKI INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY CENTRE, GREECE

The project is about  the design of a complex of office and laboratory buildings with the name “THESS_INTEC” of the National Center for Research and Technological Development (CERTH).  The new building CERTH with a capacity of 600-650 employees and 70-90 visitors is located in the new  fourth generation technology park  on a plot of land next to the Municipal Community of Perea of the Municipality of Thermaikos and near “Macedonia” airport of Thessaloniki.

The building complex is developed on multiple levels starting from the ground floor where the most basic horizontal movement is located. The starting point is defined by the disintegration of the different uses and functions in four volumes and connecting them through a transverse axis of motion. The engraving of the transverse axis is consistent with the placement of the tumors which in turn follow the boundaries of the intervention plot, creating a floating dynamic in the complex. The side volumes seem to converge towards the sea.

The organisation of the floor plans lies to the needs , the operations and the uses of each Institute. More specifically the uses on the ground floor are distributed and the relations between them are the operation of each building and the program of each Institute. The connections of the spaces are lined with transparent surfaces, which are illuminated during its duration night intensify even more the separation of tumors and radiate recesses that are created on the elevation of the complex. Finally, as a significant addition to the bioclimatic character that was sought to add to the building, the facades of the buildings are covered with passive shading systems, vertical and horizontal blinds, but also external transparent shells (curtain walls) that complete the function of the buildings, keeping the transparent element on the facades.

In conclusion, the building complex is governed by a special dynamic, it is characterized from pure geometric volumes which create a strong and prismatic casing. The lowest and horizontally spread volumes of the ground floor, create a strong base and are crowned with higher and more radiant volumes of floors that seem to float, while at the same time this ratio intensifies the oncoplastic interest and dynamics of the buildings.

Our preliminary design proposes a set of workshops and offices that through its modern design and attention to detail, will not only try to follow a aesthetically and functionally modern architecture, but at the same will be a part of shaping the new research and scientific map of the country in the new decade of innovation that is being inaugurated.

The building complex OFFICETWENTYFIVEARCHITECTS designed is simple, almost Doric and recognizable through absence of decorative or other ornamental elements. Its form emerges
through its operation but also the needs of the uses imposed by the research institutes that are hosted.