PIRAEUS – An eyesore long emblematic of the decay and neglect of the port of Piraeus – which has been revived by the Chinese management company COSCO – the long-empty Piraeus Tower has been brought back to life.

Built in 1972, Greece’s second-tallest highrise sat dormant for decades, only the first and second floors having some businesses, the rest a ghost tower before work began 2022 to restore it.

That was finished this summer by local developer Dimand, which worked on a new facade with the New York and Athens based studio PILA, founded by architect Ilias Papageorgiou who set up the local office in 2019.

In a review of the work the site Wallpaper said that the formerly abandoned tower “has now been reimagined as a mixed-use scheme, aimed at redefining the busy, yet somewhat architecturally neglected, port district of Piraeus.”

https://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/piraeus-tower-pila-architecture-athens-greece

When the work began two years earlier, Papageorgiou said that, “Greece is undergoing a rapid transformation on many fronts. This building is situated on a really important part of the wider city of Athens. We see the “awakening” of the abandoned structure of the tower as sparking a broader regeneration, allowing for the life of the city to move closer to the water.”

It’s also adding to the revitalization of the port that’s the first leg leading to the Athens Riviera undergoing a renaissance with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center just 3.5 miles south.

That leads to the burgeoning 8 billion euro ($8.8 billion) development of the abandoned Hellenikon International Airport just 7.2 miles away, destined to be a luxury area of businesses, malls, a marina, casino and high-end residences.

Dimand COO Olga Itsiou added: ‘The Piraeus Tower was an unfinished building, a sleeping giant for more than 40 years. It has never operated except for minimal commercial uses on the ground and first two floors. It was not filled with people. (now9 offices, shops, a gym, an all-day restaurant, and a café will enable approximately 2,000 people to work there.”

By June, the 22-story structure was already 70 percent leased after the 130 million euro ($144.26 million) overhaul, with an inauguration attended  by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Piraeus Mayor Yiannis Moralis. The project was financed by a venture of Dimand with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Prodea Investment AEEAP, under a 99-year concession deal with the municipality.

The business newspaper Naftemporiki said it has a a built-up area of 34,623 square meters (372,679 square feet). It will host offices, a retail gym, a wellness center, and a restaurant area, among other businesses.

The building is expected to be fully occupied by the end of 2024 and has already attracted firms such as Zara, Zara Home, and JD Sports, which signed up for 1,200 square meters (12,917 square feet) of space.

The ground floor has been leased by a pharmacy from the Go To Health chain, which will occupy 180 square meters (1,937 square feet). The third floor will feature a dining area with the Nice n Easy concept, while the fourth floor will house the Athlesis gym and a wellness area.

For office space, Dialectica, one of the fastest-growing start-ups internationally, has leased 6,210 square meters (66,844 square feet) from the 9th to the 14th floor. The 22nd floor was leased by Byron Vassiliadis’ V Group.

The tower is Greece’s first digital and bioclimatic skyscraper with the highest Platinum certification according to the international sustainable development standard LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

A second phase underway will include public landscaping, aiming to further revitalize the surrounding context that can be grimy in places, and reframe the port’s pedestrian access and circulation via a new green footbridge.

The exterior design features louvers which reduce solar gain on the façade by 45 per cent; façade elements chosen following light pollution studies; photovoltaic panels and the recycling of more than 5,000 square meters (53,820 square feet) of glass construction, a proportion of which was installed as new glass in the project.

“The rejuvenation of Piraeus Tower exemplifies adaptive reuse at its finest. By reimagining existing structures, we can transform our city into a more sustainable and livable environment,” said Papageorgiou and PILA partner Christina Papalexandri at the opening.