The proposal for the regeneration of the middle part of Ermou Street, from the Church of Kapnikarea to the Thiseion railway station and the square of Agion Asomaton Church, is a continuation of the award-winning proposal of the 2019 Architectural competition, entitled "Regenaration of the Athens City Center" -as organized by ATHENS ANAPLASI SA and the Ministry of Infrastructure. The proposal provided for the functional upgrade of the interior “T” of the historic triangle of the city center, namely the Ermou-Athinas axes - through the redesign of both streets. In this light, the proposal for Ermou Street attempts to magnify the pedestrian walkway, as well as to visually enhance this very important axis of the city of Athens.
For its anchoring in the urban fabric to be achieved, the proposal concerns both the sidewalks and the roadway of Ermou Street, including small parts of the adjacent streets. The elimination of side-parking and the widening of the sidewalks on both sides by 1.5-2 meters, produces a total sidewalk width of 3.5-4 meters, while a one-sided row of trees on the north side of the road -along its entire length- provides shading.
At the same time, the proposal emphasizes on the points of interest along the axis, the most characteristic being the transverse movement to and from Abyssinia Square, which is marked by the gradual densification of the light poles, their escalating curvature and their symmetrical arrangement acting as a reference point for the totality of the project. The new, circular arrangement of Ag. Asomaton square also encloses the area around the precinct of the homonymous church, thus allowing for the unimpeded longitudinal flow to and from Kerameikos.
The study prescribes two different floor finishes, made of treated concrete and granite. The traffic area is formed by rigid pavement, with its final surface made of bush hammered concrete, while the pedestrian area is paved with granite surface plates of variable width, length and shade in order to achieve a tonal gradation. The lighter tones of the pavement of the pedestrian traffic zone become progressively darker towards the axis of the Road, thus intensifying its perspective.
PROJECT TEAM:
TIlemachos Andrianopoulos
Christos Voutsas
Thomas Gkikas
Konstantinos Xanthopoulos
Leonidas Oikonomis
CONSULTANT: Dimitris Philippides
MEP DESIGN – STREET LIGHTING:
H / M DESIGN_ Konstantinos Georgakopoulos / Spiros Tsantes
LIGHTING CONSULTANT:
LUUN_ Mina Mantzari / Theodora Papadopoulou
LANDSCAPE DESIGN:
Grigoris Karaiskos
Eleni Tsirintani
BUILDING TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANTS:
Kyriakos Dritsakos
Panagiotis Vasilatos
STRUCTURAL DESIGN:
Athanasios Kontizas
TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEY:
DYNAMIS S.A._ Lagkadinos Giorgos