The 5 * hotel MAKEDONIA PALACE is a historic, but also a emblematic, building located in central Thessaloniki, Greece, in the district of Nea Paralia, on Alexander the Great Avenue. It was built in 1972 based on the design of architect Konstantinos Doxiadis (1913-1975) and it is a characteristic example of 1970’s modern movement architecture in Greece.
The project concerns the total renovation and full retrofit of the hotel. It offers a capacity of 276 rooms and the building occupies a plot area of approximately 14,350sqm, just 60m from the coastline. The building has a total surface of ~ 27.500sqm and a height of 33m and it consists of one underground and eleven above ground levels.
The main building has a rectangular shape with its main elevations oriented to the West with unobstructed sea views and to the East with panoramic city views. It consists of an rectangular building volume in basement, ground floor and mezzanine levels, housing the public areas and a smaller in plan, nine level tower, where the rooms and suites are located, plus a restaurant-bar on the upper level. Its main characteristic is the austere and simple geometrical arrangement of the white marble facades, as well as the semi-open spaces in front of the rooms.
In order to respect building’s architecture, most of the interventions were confined to the interior of the building and mainly oriented on finishes and decorative elements, with the exception of the ground floor, where significant rearrangements of public areas took place.
The main interventions were:
conference rooms relocation and retrofit, enhancing hotel’s conference character and upgrading its services in the field of high class events, restaurant and bar relocation to a privileged ground floor hotel area, offering upscale dining and leisure services, additional restaurant and bar area on the upper floor of the hotel, with a special aesthetic character with the most stunning view of the city, pool and auxiliary areas upgrading and a new canopy construction in main hotel entrance, as a new hotel landmark, along with functional and aesthetic upgrading of drop-off area.
In addition, extensive work was carried out on the maintenance of all building installations, with the aim of fully modernizing all areas of the hotel, exterior facades repair, as well upgrading landscape areas.
The unique location of the complex, which offers this outstanding connection to the sea and the city, as well as the simple lines, timeless rugged geometries and warm and earthy materials, create a canvas of relaxation and austere luxury throughout the hotel.
The materials used are mainly marble, wood, metal and glass in different versions and combinations, varying from space to space. The technology of materials used was the most current and sophisticated, always geared to special buildings.
Considering that MACEDONIA PALLAS is a building of historical importance for the city of Thessaloniki, the architectural proposal aimed at respecting its architecture and highlighting the most important elements that made it unique through time.
Typology: Renovation
Archaeological Museum
The NAMS design proposal responds to the principles set by the promoter and satisfies all the objectives set out in the call for proposals.
The building develops following the urban, local-national character of the National Road along which its eastern boundary extends, and its internal central mood to preserve and highlight the local findings.
At the same time, it needs to be seduced by ancient Sparta, but also by the Modern City. To dominate the entrance of the city with a continuous welcome, to invite, to embrace the visitor in the heart of its past.
Morphologically, the building can be read as a volume formation of archetypal structures: the body that carries the STOA, its elongated part leading to the AGORA close to the city, the conversation of the 2 buildings (old and new) forming the ATRIUM. The use of exposed concrete in the elements of the body is intensified by the form of the dense columns, while the choice of U-shaped glass alternating with vertical glass louvres gives a lighter, yet distinct facade in the new building.
The general organization of the uses turns the visitors’ areas towards the interior of the plot, near the archaeological site, and places the offices, workshops, storages to the east, towards the highway. The new building is connected with the existing one, through the entrance area at ground floor level, and through the ending of the Museum Exhibition at first floor level, providing an exit to the outside for a tour in the archeological findings.
The two buildings function as one, with the new one hosting the reception areas, the temporary exhibition and most of the permanent exhibition, and with the existing hosting multi-purpose and educational halls, the shop, the cafe, the exhibition of former factory HYMOFIX.
The design principles of the building and the immediate surroundings complies with the basic objective of bioclimatic architecture, which is summarized in securing a “high quality” acceptable indoor climatic conditions while reducing energy consumption.
The central idea of forming the exhibition space is based on the key words “intersections” and “refractions”, describing spatially the meaning of the museological themes.
According to the above, the exhibition areas are developed on the basis of specific crossing paths and refraction areas. Lighting, which ranges from bright to dark and vice versa, contributes to the desired exhibition atmosphere, enhancing the experience, depending on the content.
Olympos – Naoussa Building
In one of the most recognizable spots of Thessaloniki, on its coastal front on Leoforos Nikis Avenue, the project highlights and utilizes the facade of a listed building, the historic restaurant Olympus – Naoussa, built in 1926 and designed by architect Jacques Mosse.
The project anticipates the preservation, restoration and integration of the listed facade of the historic building in a modern, multi-storey, luxurious “boutique” hotel.
The design carried out by METE SYSM appertained to the retaining structure of the listed facade during the construction of the new building, the 8-storey with two basements new building and the integration of the listed facade into it.
The retaining of the facade, respecting the architectural peculiarities of the existing construction, while satisfying the construction requirements of the work site, was carried out with six properly arranged steel frames with bi-directional diagonal bracings of adequate resistance and stiffness for resisting the horizontal wind and earthquake actions. On either side of the listed masonry, UPN cross-section beams are arranged, tightening it like a splint, which are connected to the steel frames through cantilever beams, transferring to them the horizontal wind and earthquake loads. Both the temporary retaining structure and the listed facade are supported by properly arranged micropiles.
The new permanent structure is entirely made of reinforced concrete. To maximize the safety of adjacent buildings against displacements during excavation and to save construction time, the method of simultaneous Up and Down Construction has been chosen. Special consideration was taken into the integration of the listed facade in the new construction, which is ensured by the proper arrangement of special anchors and nails. The foundation of the new construction consists of a reinforced concrete diaphragm at the perimeter and of diaphragmatic elements (barrettes) of rectangular cross section on the inside.
Prefecture Services
The building complex that houses the services of the Prefecture of Thessaloniki includes office spaces, extending in four levels, ground floor shops, two basements with 307 parking spaces and auxiliary spaces. The complex includes also three listed buildings with public uses.
The concept idea for the volume organization of the new building complex is the creation of two main axis-walkways, vertical one another.
An additional defining element for the façades’ organization is the requirement for “an accurate and effective sun protection of the building” according to the competition specifications.
The sun protection of the South West elevation is achieved by the construction of a second skin, at small distance from the basic elevation, consisting of movable horizontal and vertical metal louvers.
For the same reason, in the North West and South East elevations, a second skin is also constructed consisting of ceramic elements (solid in front of the solid parts of the elevations and perforated-louvered in front of the openings).
This treatment implements the basic aesthetic principle for a clear distinction between the «old» and the «new», at all levels. The elevations acting as the background for the landmarks, from 26 Oktovriou and Kefallinias streets, are totally neutral and completely different, without any competitive, supplementary or relevant aesthetic elements. Additionally, the ceramic skins for North West and South East elevations were selected in order to mark and implement the functional, integrating and aesthetic axis of the important monuments (FIX, GAS COMPANY, MYLOS) through a unified ceramic texture, which characterizes the three monuments.