Reuse and extension of an old paper factory — public odeum and concert hall of 600 seats

University of Patras – School of Engineering Department of Architecture

Academic year: 2002–2003, 7th semester Architectural studio no. 7 Supervisor: Yiannis Patronis Team members: Christina Douni, Kyratso Kaskampa, Maro Makri

Description:

The project involves the reuse of one of the old buildings of the former Ladopoulos Paper Factory as a public odeum and the insertion of a new concert hall of 600 seats.

The existing building is a one-storey space with a maximum height of 5.5 m. It is a reinforced-concrete structure with the characteristic sawtooth roof that provides adequate interior lighting.

The dominant industrial character of the site influenced the design concept, which was intended to form a machine-building where circulation — since it is a public building — is visible and runs through the whole new complex.

Space for the additional building is made available through the demolition of the buildings that share a party wall with the sawtooth-roofed building.

The basic intention was to retain the elevation–section of the sawtooth-roofed building created after the demolition of the remaining buildings, and to accentuate its reinforced-concrete frame by leaving it visible.

All the odeum classrooms are organised in this building as separate boxes following a different axis from the strict orthogonal modular grid of its frame.

The new axis is extended and repeated in the design of the additional building that accommodates the concert hall.