In Piraeus the port of Athens which is one of the largest commercial ports of Europe and connects mainland Greece with the islands Klab were invited to design one of the largest pharmacies in Greece. The site which sits next to the port was occupied by an old warehouse transformed to a night club. Klab designed a new shopping experience transforming completely the existing building while reinforcing the existing stone walls with new concrete structure and introducing a new facade to the city and to the port.
The concept was to create a building with a direct reference to its context, that of a port. Facade's reference of ship decks create a dialogue between the building and the ships at the port. A large triangular perforated structure was created on top of the building in order to make the pharmacy visible from the distant sides of the port of Piraeus. An exterior path was created that leads on the terrace where at the future a botanical garden will be developed. The relation between the new refurbished building and the port is constant -formally , conceptually and physically.
At the interior, the large open volume of the warehouse was altered by the introduction of new mezzanines connected to each other in different ways. From ground floor to the mezzanine a curved ramp creates a dynamic line inside the volume and connects the two levels. An amphitheater connects the first level to the second where a meeting room and an office exists. A little bit more above lies the storage space. An elevator and a staircase is used internally to make access more direct.
Internal facades as exterior ones were treated to resemble naval formal language. At the ground floor lies the sales area with a small lab. The flow of the people inside the large space is guided by the arrangement of the furniture and from the central sale points which are spread evenly in the space. The space is also divided in categories of products, but the main focus is that anyone is visible from everyone producing a theatrical aspect in the shopping experience. Where it was possible the stone walls were retrieved internally revealing the old structure in the ground floor.
On the first level a multi-purpose space is generated and it is used from parties to yoga lessons and from seminars to theatrical plays. This is an entirely unique event space for a pharmacy store, but Klab developed this idea to enhance the shopping experience and producing an almost public space within the pharmacy.
It is important how people experience their movement inside this pharmacy and what is the relation of the space and the exterior light which is filtered by a perforated facade. Another significant aspect is the relation of the interior with the city and the sea which becomes more evident as you get to the upper levels.
The movement flow experience is quite unique as every time you step into a different reality.
Several materials were used to the whole structure as steel structure and aluminum perforated facade, exposed stone wall, wood floor on the mezzanine and epoxy flooring on the ground level. Gypsum boards were used extensively for false ceilings and walls.
The store resembles a museum experience where the products become the exhibit. The relation between the different spaces and functions and the invention of the outdoor space within the pharmacy creates a stronger relation with the context prescribing a different kind of shopping environment.
Material Used :
1. Facade : aluminum perforated
2. Interior walls and ceilings: gypsumboard
3. Ground floor finishing: epoxy resin
4. First floor finishing: oak hard floor
5. Furniture: White lacquered mdf
