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Ergon Agora East

Urban Soul Project

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entrance - Kimberley Powell
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entrance - Kimberley Powell

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Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
JURY VOTES
Multi-Brand Store
5.93
6.52
6.27
6.97
6.42
Andrea Zickhardt
Andrea Zickhardt Managing Director at Holzer Kobler Architekturen
Good concept of reusing small space...
6.5
8.5
8
7
7.5
Preeti Singh
Preeti Singh Brand Director at India Design ID
A tiny home done well - not just th...
6.5
8.5
8.5
7
7.63
Anne-Laure Pingreoun
Anne-Laure Pingreoun Founder at Alter-Projects
Smart small design living, neutral...
6
8
8
7
7.25
Julia Chiaramonti
Julia Chiaramonti Founder at Julia Chiaramonti
5
5.59
5.29
5.35
5.31
Ronnie Belizaire
Ronnie Belizaire Studio Practice Leader and Principal at HKS Inc.
6
8
8
6
7
Servaas Vehmeijer
Servaas Vehmeijer Partner and Managing Director at The Invisible Party
6
8
6.5
6
6.63
Liz Gallagher
Liz Gallagher Studio Director at March and White Design
Appreciate the soft palette and inn...
8.5
8
7.5
6.5
7.63
Claude Saos
Claude Saos Head of interior architecture and design at LISAA Strasbourg
6
8
7
6
6.75
Judy Dowle
Judy Dowle Associate Design Director at Studio XAG
6
8
7.5
6.5
7
Tanya Suvannapong
Tanya Suvannapong Design Director at Gensler
6.5
8
7
6
6.88
Leendert Tange
Leendert Tange Creative Partner at Storeage-Group
7
8
8
5
7
Peter Pan
Peter Pan Founder and CEO at Noa Galaxy
5
8
6
6
6.25
Ismael Abedin Ingelmo
Ismael Abedin Ingelmo Founder and Director at DXMID
5.78
7.59
6.74
5.66
6.44
Quan Huang
Quan Huang Chief Designer at WJID
5
6
6
7
6
Client
Ergon Foods
Floor area
2500 ㎡
Completion
2021
Social Media
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Sanitary

ERGON Agora East is located in Pylaia, a few kilometers outside the city of Thessaloniki, and re-uses an old industrial shell of 1970s, of 2500 sq.m.

 Redefining the supermarket experience, ERGON Agora East is organized in such a way that many different activities take place at the same time. The supermarket offers an extensive variety of fresh products, refrigerated and on shelves, and also has a wine cellar, a coffee roastery, and co-exists with the restaurant, the bakery and the patisserie. The unique element of the surrounding space with a total area of 6000 sq.m. that reaches the sea, gives the opportunity to expand the experience outside, with a new type of vegetable garden, where among others there are canteens, a beach bar, a playground and an open-air cinema, all together creating a new type of meeting place. 

The existing building is elongated, with ruling industrial elements such as the visible metal grid of the pitched roof, the concrete blocks and the terrazzo floor.

 Crucial for the current image of the building was the decision to highlight the age, ie its structural character and the damage that time has brought to it. Thus, all subsequent additions to floors, ceilings and walls were removed. More specifically, the epoxy paint coating used for the previous use of the space was removed and the original terazzo floor was revealed. Any damage to the mosaic was covered with cement. The light constructions that had been placed on the roof to hide lighting, ventilation and air conditioning installations were removed and the impressive metal grid was revealed. Part of the roof was opened, lighting fixtures were installed and the pitched roof was re-insulated. Finally, all the additional coatings were removed from the masonry and the brick and cement walls were revealed, cleaned and restored in places in order to be kept visible.

 With the opening of the southwest side and the skylight along the entire length of the roof, which reaches 70 m., the building is conceivably enlarged and integrated with its environment. The translucent facades organically connect the interior with the exterior, creating the feeling of an open market. The interior is constantly changing, as it takes in the colors of natural light, offering every moment a unique spatial experience. 

The restaurant is developed on the southwest side of the building, facing the sea, in an imaginary square, created by the open kitchen, the oven, the private chefing room and the central single island of the bar-roastery. In this way, the restaurant, without losing contact with the supermarket, to some extent becomes autonomous and turns to the view of the west, then defining the axis of development of the entire surrounding area.