On the occasion of the proclamation of Eleusina as the 2021 European Capital of Culture, architect Constantine Bouras completed, for ASPROFOS Engineering, the architectural design for the conversion of two preserved buildings of the former paint factory IRIS into a multipurpose cultural center.

The repurposing of the buildings produces a space for theater, cinema, music, congresses, art exhibitions and other cultural activities, while part of it is home to the Aeschylus Museum. The creation of the IRIS Cultural Center will contribute to the emergence of the industrial heritage of the city and its sustainable development. The two listed buildings and the chimney of the old factory are particularly interesting examples of interwar industrial architecture and are indissolubly linked to the industrial past of ​​Eleusina and the memory of its inhabitants.

The reconstruction respects the monument, making the architectural intervention reversible at any time. In the eastern compartment of Building 1, a multipurpose auditorium is placed as a free standing volume that does not touch the existing industrial shell. The auditorium, as a box, refers to the containers that are found around Eleusina’s landscape - making a clear reference to the industrial character of the city. The translucency of the box allows the indirect projection of the events from the inside of the auditorium to the rest of the space.

The west compartment of Building 1 is allocated to the exhibition space. The open floor plan allows for flexibility in the organization of periodical exhibitions with panels, vitrines, pedestals, large-scale installations, but also as a continuation of the auditorium when it expands outside of the box. The permanent digital exhibition of the Aeschylus Museum is to be found in a wall-mounted show case. The case’s semicircular section is a reference to the ground plan of ancient Greek theater, of which one of the most important representatives is the Eleusinian tragic poet Aeschylus.

The space of Building 1 resembles a contemporary cathedral, with unobstructed views to the vaulted ceiling and the reinforced concrete structural elements. The central bearing colonnade separates conceptually the two programmatic spaces, but at the same time it enhances the transparency, flow and osmotic function between them. The theatricality of the space is emphasized by the light fixtures that hang from the transverse beams.

In Building 2, the cafeteria is located centrally, with an internal balcony, thus utilizing the double height from the morphology of the existing sloping roof. The balcony and the staircase leading to it are metal constructions, which – in line with the general philosophy of the restoration - are self-supporting and do not exercise any bearing load on the body of the existing industrial shell. Building 2 also hosts the artists' dressing rooms, the administration offices and the restrooms.

A glass corridor connects compositionally and functionally Buildings 1 and 2 and leads to the outdoor space of the complex. The corridor facilitates spatial flow, but it also becomes a programmatically flexible space. The outdoor space created between Buildings 1 and 2 is designed as an open-air living room, where the cafeteria can be extended when the weather is nice, and which can be used as a public seating area.

Architect: Constantine Bouras
Structural Engineer: ASPROFOS Engineering

MEP Engineer: ARCHIKAT Construction