BLE’ HEADQUARTER, GREECE

Blé is a food and fashion retail company with headquarters located on an A road on the outskirts of sunny Thessaloniki. With our winning building plan and design our aim was to communicate Blé’s strong and unified corporate identity across its eclectic range of trading activities.
1+1=1 architects’ building plan for Blé headquarters comprises a food court on the ground floor, which is open to the public; a space for the fashion collections on the first floor, accessible to retailers only; and an area for events and occasional fashion shows on the top floor. our design proposal takes into account two key factors: the bright sun of Thessaloniki and the absence of quality views due to the peripheral location of the building. the highlight of our design are the 30×30 mm square holes perforating the building facades in order to filter the strong sunlight and give the interior an ethereal ambience. the holes pattern becomes less and less dense as the public flow into the building decreases. this elegant pattern on the white stone of the outer skin gives the whole building an aura of purity and mystery.
As a finishing touch, the peaceful sound of the waterfall cascading into the water feature in front of the long facade shields the traffic noise coming from the busy surroundings.

Credits: Claudio Silvestrin and Giuliana Vittoria Salmaso with Vincenzo Aiossa, Tania Giorgi, Philippe Morel, Stefania Odelli