Our first project in the city of Athens will be a landmark commercial scheme with views towards the Acropolis

16.12.2020

We are excited to finally announce planning permission has been granted for our landmark commercial project in central Athens designed and Divercity Architects for Greek developer Dimand. The new-build will create a vibrant workplace with class-leading sustainability credentials, and lush new landscaping.

Importex will occupy a prominent corner site on Leoforos Syngrou, a major avenue linking the city centre and the seafront, and will consolidate a major new commercial and cultural destination together with the adjacent Hellenic General Insurance HQ [by Mario Botta and Rena Sakellaridou & Morpho Papanikolaou (SPARCH)], the Onassis Stegi (by Architecture Studio) and the Intercontinental Athenaeum Hotel (by Iason Rizos). 

The project has broken ground on site and is expected to be completed by early Spring 2022. Contemporary reinterpretation of traditional design themes and use of local materials are intended to make the building identifiably Athenian. 

A pair of eight storey buildings are clad in vertical white marble louvres at carefully crafted angles to capture the unique Athenian light and create a choreography of vistas and views to the city, the mountains, and the Acropolis. At street level, a colonnade or ‘stoa’ provides the same signposting together with a new avenue of trees that soften and shade the context. 

Julian Lipscombe, Director at Bennetts Associates comments: “It’s a great privilege to design on such a key site, in one of the world’s great cities with views to an icon of the ancient world. In response we have endeavoured to create a scheme that is both confident and identifiably Athenian in its DNA. It combines our vast expertise in workplace and sustainability with a sensibility to the rich cultural context and local climate. Collaborating with Dimand and Divercity Architects on this extraordinary commission has been a delight.”

Dimitris Andriopoulos, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Dimand: “I would first like to thank Prodea Investments for sourcing this investment opportunity and joining us as a codeveloper in the project. I believe this development will aesthetically improve and add value to the area, in line with a series of neighboring landmark properties. We trust this office complex will become a successful, sustainable and lively working space for all and I thank both Bennetts Associates and Divercity Architects for their inspiring work.” 

Nikolas Travasaros, Founding Partner & Director at Divercity Architects said: “We are honoured to work for leading developer Dimand and alongside renowned UK practice Bennetts Associates, for this landmark project. On bustling Syngrou Avenue, we envisaged a timeless and powerful building, that will capture the unique Athenian light and reflect the cultural richness of ever-changing Athens.”