In Eleusina, an industrial city on the west coast of Attica, 20 km from Athens, the architectural office Constantine Bouras Studio has undertaken the architectural design for the adaptive reuse of the former paint factory IRIS into a multipurpose cultural center, on the occasion of Eleusina becoming the 2023 European Capital of Culture.
The ambition was to reestablish the industrial monument of IRIS as a landmark for the city after it had been abandoned since the early 1970s. Situated on the city’s coastal front, the remaining listed listed buildings and the chimney of the IRIS industrial complex date back to the early 20th century, particularly interesting examples of interwar industrial architecture, and are indissolubly linked to the industrial past of Eleusina and the collective memory of its inhabitants. The creation of the IRIS Cultural Center on the site of the old IRIS factory contributes to the upgrading of the coastal front of Eleusina towards a seaside cultural district and the emergence of the industrial heritage of the city, acclaiming building reuse and giving new life to a site with accumulated history for the local community. The building’s inaugural exhibition “Eleusis Terracota Army” [before the building’s actual completion in 2025], was conceived as a way of revealing its past to the public - an installation about the hundreds of workers from Eleusina who had worked in the IRIS factory.
The project echoes the current global tendency of adapting former industrial structures to serve new purposes and facilitate the needs of growing cities, as they shift from obsolete industrial sites to vibrant social spaces. Through this repurposing, IRIS is activated as an adaptable venue enabling flexible, user-driven programming and multiple modes of use: an open plan that allows continuous spatial reconfiguration for art exhibitions, music, theater, cinema, conferences and other cultural activities. The space transforms continuously, supporting each event without imposing a fixed identity. The interior spaces of industrial buildings constitute a neutral, yet compelling backdrop, exerting a great deal of charm.
The design goal for IRIS was to preserve and celebrate the state-of-the-art architecture of the former paint factory, making the existing structure the main focal point, while inducing an exciting juxtaposition between the monument and the contemporary. The deteriorated original shell had been compromised by the natural elements and carried the scars of abandonment. The exterior façades were restored in a sense of what was already there, while the approach for the interiors was through the lens of creating an abstracted, almost model-like quality white box, with the existing concrete structural elements as bare features, preserving deliberately the visible contrast between old and new. The inserted free-standing elements with no load-bearing impact on the shell serve the needs of the repurposed building, but making the architectural intervention potentially reversible at any time. The rugged HVAC ducts are left intentionally exposed, interrupting the clerestory windows, as a tangible reminder of the edifice’s contemporary adaptation. The challenge was to reconcile these layers with clarity and make them work as a single, cohesive whole. The unifying use of color coating turned the expansive vertical surfaces into a continuous tonal field.
The monolithic high-ceiling main space of the IRIS Cultural Center [Building 1] is conceived as the center’s multifunctional space with an open floor plan. The minimal design accentuates the qualities of this majestic volume: a monumental double-height space, which resembles a contemporary cathedral. At its center is a light load-bearing colonnade which divides the space into two equal compartments, but allows for spatial transparency. The space culminates in a dramatic ceiling-scape. The vaulted roof of this building is impressively sculptural, with an elaborate and innovative - for the period - reinforced concrete structural system: made of twin semi-cylindrical concrete slabs suspended from concrete curved beams, the whole roof system is elevated, creating double-sided clerestory windows, flooding the interior with natural light. The theatricality of the space is more emphasized by the light fixtures that are suspended from the transverse beams. The reflective floor mirrors the complex building geometry, multiplying everything and making everything look like it’s floating.
In the original study, approved by the Ministry of Culture, a multipurpose auditorium is placed as a free-standing volume in the main building – Building 1. The auditorium is introduced in the concept of a box-in-a-box, a metal and glass construction that does not touch the existing industrial shell. The auditorium’s geometry refers to the containers that are found scattered around Eleusina’s landscape – thus being a clear reference to the city’s industrial character. The translucency of the auditorium box would allow the indirect projection of events from the inside to the rest of the space.
Building 2 of the IRIS Cultural Center hosts the administration office, the artists' dressing rooms, the restrooms and a cafeteria which is located in the skylit double-height part of this building.
A glass floor corridor connects compositionally and functionally Buildings 1 and 2 of the IRIS Cultural Center and leads to the outdoor area of the complex. This space between the two buildings was originally the embedded reservoir tanks of the former paint factory, which were uncovered and now showcased through a “surgical archaeology” design strategy.
Architectural design: Constantine Bouras Studio
Structural Engineer: ASPROFOS Engineering
MEP Engineer: ARCHIKAT Construction
Light design: Constantine Bouras Studio
Project Management: ASPROFOS Engineering
Construction Administration: City of Eleusina
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Photography: Valentina Vagena
