The new pharmacy on the corner of Jūrmalas gatve and Dzirciema street is not just a building, but rather a free-standing pavilion or environmental installation. Its overall image is modest and conceptually assertive, but at the same time keenly different from the surrounding urban environment and attractively expressing the contents of the building.
In Piraeus the port of Athens which is one of the largest commercial ports of Europe and connects mainland Greece with the islands Klab were invited to design one of the largest pharmacies in Greece. The site which sits next to the port was occupied by an old warehouse transformed to a night club.
Klab designed a new shopping experience transforming completely the existing building while reinforcing the existing stone walls with new concrete structure and introducing a new facade to the city and to the port.
A pharmacy has always been a special place to go to. Everybody knows the image of the whitedressed pharmacist in front of dark-wood shelfs and drawer units covering the walls from floor to ceiling. Personal contact and individual advise make part of this image, holding memories of the real world experience a visit to the apothecary once was.
This architecture might remind you of the images of
Kanoko, a fawn drinking water, “Kanoko” means a young deer in Japanese
Like a collar of a Kimono
Like Origami , folding paper work
A huge thumb pointing to the ground
An asymmetric shape
The site is situated on a corner, so you can see two facades of this building. This is the first building that catches youｒ eyes when you get out of the station. Accordingly, we have designed this building not just as a simple cube, but as a funny and interesting form composed by two sides of the façade in order to make people create various images. It is designed sharply, clearly and dynamically.
The renovation concerns one of the oldest commercial spaces in Heraklion city center, where the last twenty five years none of the previous business attempts did survived. The design focus to convert the space into a landmark by creating clear volumes, one open plan space for the public and a visible storefront from the street with clear and minimal signage, which sensible its presence in the local market.
KDI CONTRACT designed a new pharmacy located at the historic Nikoloudi Gallery in Panepistimiou Street, in the heart of Athens. The gallery was initially designed by the architect Alexandros Nikoloudis, in the late 19th century, based on similar arcades existing in other cities of Europe at the time. It has been characterized, by the Greek Ministry of Culture, as an historical monument and an architectural work of art with remarkable composition, function and typology, of the few remaining from the interwar era.
Carlos, the client told me: “the aim is, essentially, to make a simple pharmacy with a nice economic façade with personality and that it won’t give many problems with graffiti”.
The interior was painted white -so were the wooden shelves- and some thin fluorescent tube fixtures were placed in line hanged from the ceiling with thin wires.
KDI CONTRACT was commissioned to renovate Maragkos Pharmacy, a long-standing pharmacy located in the heart of Athens, in order to enhance its image and promote its brand name. The project involved the total reconstruction of the pharmacy’s façade and the re-design of the interior so as to create a modern, elegant and welcoming pharmacy for customers of all ages.
In Japan, two major types of pharmacies can be found. The first is the drug store, or what can be described as retail pharmacies. This type offers services related to basic medicines as well as parapharmaceutical products. The second type is the dispensing pharmacies, usually related to a nearby clinic or hospital. In this type of pharmacies, the products are prepared in the backyard after the customer presents prescription issued by his doctor. Once prepared, the pharmacist has to explain to the customer about the prescription.
The design for this pharmacy is based on the idea to make the individual functional areas visible on the facade. The result is a tough, cubic building as a solitaire within the existing shopping center.
The staggering of the structure is a result of the inner spatial and functional flows. Thus, the entrance area and the open and glazed salesroom as well as the other rooms (adjoining and ordination rooms on the upper floor) become visible as individual bodies within the total volume.
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