Mole Pharmacy / KLab architecture

Curated by Paula Pintos

Architects: KLab architecture
Area: 600 m²
Year: 2017
Photographs:Mariana Bisti
Manufacturers: Voutsadakis AVETE
Lead Architects: Konstantinos Labrinopoulos
Engineering: Ypsilon ltd.

Text description provided by the architects. In Piraeus 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 sits next to the port was occupied by an old warehouse transformed to a nightclub.

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. The concept was to create a building with a direct reference to its context. Facade's reference of ship decks create a dialogue between the building and the ships at the port.

Mole Pharmacy / KLab architecture - Interior Photography, Kitchen — © Mariana Bisti

A large triangular perforated structure was created on top of the building in order to make the pharmacy visible from the distant sides of the port of Piraeus.
An exterior path was created that leads on the terrace where at the future a botanical garden will be developed.
The relation between the new refurbished building and the port is constant -formally , conceptually and physically.

Mole Pharmacy / KLab architecture - Image 7 of 35 — © Mariana Bisti

At the interior, the large open volume of the warehouse was altered by the introduction of new mezzanines connected to each other in different ways. From ground floor to the mezzanine a curved ramp creates a dynamic line inside the volume and connects the two levels. An amphitheater connects the first level to the second where a meeting room and an office exists.
Internal facades as exterior ones were treated to resemble naval formal language.

At the ground floor lies the sales area with a small lab. The flow of the people inside the large space is guided by the arrangement of the furniture . The space is also divided in categories of products, but the main focus is that anyone is visible from everyone producing a theatrical aspect in the shopping experience.

Mole Pharmacy / KLab architecture - Image 29 of 35 — © Mariana Bisti

On the first level a multi-purpose space is generated and it is used from parties to yoga lessons and from seminars to theatrical plays. This is an entirely unique event space for a pharmacy store, but Klab developed this idea to enhance the shopping experience and producing an almost public space within the pharmacy.

It is important how people experience their movement inside this pharmacy and what is the relation of the space and the exterior light which is filtered by a perforated facade. The relation of the interior with the city and the sea becomes more evident as you get to the upper levels. Several materials were used to the whole structure as steel structure and aluminum perforated facade, exposed stone wall, wood floor on the mezzanine and epoxy flooring on the ground level. Gypsum boards were used extensively for false ceilings and walls.

Mole Pharmacy / KLab architecture - Image 27 of 35 — © Mariana Bisti

The store resembles a museum experience where the products become the exhibit. The relation between the different spaces and the invention of the outdoor space within the pharmacy creates a stronger relation with the context prescribing a different kind of shopping environment.