Silo Hotel

At the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Kalamata was an important commodity hub for Southern Greece, and the Evangelistria Silo building, which was inaugurated in 1925, had a prominent role in the city's economy during a good part of this century. The change of the economic landscape of the last three decades affected the wellbeing and development of the port and therefore the building was abandoned. Today it is becoming clear that the economic model of Greece is turning decisively towards tourism and leisure, which creates new opportunities and leads us to see old buildings of the industrial heritage under a new light. Within this context, we were commissioned the conversion of this important industrial building of 11,000 m2 into two hotels of 5 and 4 stars respectively, with conference facilities. The two hotels have 100 beds each.

When our office was asked to consider the future of the Evangelistria Silos, we started off by reflecting: How can we transform a space for grain into a space for people?"

To achieve this, we design new access openings within the cells of the silos, as well as windows on the facades, which match the proportions and sizes of the existing windows in other areas of the facade. By adding new slabs between the cells, we create 4 floors that will host rooms and suites with sizes ranging from 28 to 45 sq.m.The plethora of old industrial elements (wooden silos, machinery, bells for starting and ending work, etc.) will be preserved throughout the building and will be exhibited in a specially designed space.

Cleaning, removal and surveying operations have already started, as well as licensing procedures. The companies "Porto Milos Kalamata M.I.K.E" and "Porto Marina Kalamata MIKE" have already been successfully subjected to the Development Law, and have received financial sponsorship amounting to 3 million and 2.7 million respectively. The investment is expected to contribute with over 20 annual permanent jobs each, in addition to the seasonal ones.

TEAM: Kostas Poulopoulos, Nicolai Schlapps, Christina Christia, Konstantina Kousari, Dinos Koudounis, Thanos Lefakis