Core Agora Shops · 木构诗意的商业空间

The site of the project is at the heart of a 10-acre sloped park landscaped to accommodate various recreational and leisure activities and function as the focal point in the wider area of Elounda. The project consists of individual but similar pavilions that make up space for boutiques, souvenir shops, food and beverage outlets but also gallery spaces for local artists and designers. The volumes sit on a grid-like arrangement with new vegetation planted in-between them.

Transparency of the volumes and more than one entrance on each of the pavilions facing different directions aim in blending indoor with outdoor experience of the space.

The otherwise metal-framed pavilions are anchored on concrete pedestals and are clad entirely with tinted wooden elements. The characteristic skin of the pavilions is made of plywood lamellas in a woven pattern that reflects traditional basket weaving techniques.

This wooden façade functions as the binding element of the whole complex but also as a vertical sun shading device for every structure. The uniformity of the skin is interrupted by large windows that frame the products on display. At night the volumes light up like lanterns that illuminate the surrounding pathways in the park.