The main objective in the design of this proposal was that the building complex should be a model for organizing different public functions in such a way that they are in an open dialogue with the city they serve. Primary aim was to create a landmark, a public project that will be the meeting point of the historic past of Toumba neighborhood and its modern face as a vibrant urban neighborhood. In this context, what was proposed is the creation of a building system that “invites” visitors and the local community to experience the public as a vital area of development and interaction.

Τhe concept of the final composition was to design an urban community, in which eight (8) different independent building units coexist, while passages between them allow free movement and direct access to them. The central path, which crosses vertically the plot, functions as the basis of the architectural design of the proposal, so it would operate morphologically but also conceptually as an organic continuity of the city.

The central path, in the form of a public passage within the architectural composition was consciously put, as this is, in any case, a fundamental element of shaping and arranging the public space. It is a dynamic and extrovert gesture which at the same time acts as a connecting link between the building blocks that are based according to the relevance of their use.

 The eight (8) independent building units were designed according to the same architectural vocabulary, devoted to different public functions and accessible both through the central public passage and through the smaller passages designed as extensions of the secondary roads leading to the plot.  

Thus, on the northern side of the plot there are facilities related to culture (municipal library, a memorial space of Toumba’s refugees, a multipurpose hall for social events and a municipality and community office building) and on the southern side those related to social welfare and care (an indoor fitness center, a day care center for elderly people, a municipality guest houses and a community clinic). 

The brick was chosen as a basic investment material of all the facades of the buildings. This is a material that automatically refers to the long tradition of using briquettes in the construction of the city of Thessaloniki and, more specifically, to a materialism that is inextricably linked with the first light refugee constructions in Toumba neighborhood. These constructions were the reference for the cluster technique that was translated into the present proposal as a morphological element of the facades of building blocks. Using this technique contributes to maintain a compact building vocabulary but at the same time to create the necessary sense of intimacy. Where it is placed, it serves the needs of lighting and shading the interiors, while as natural light decreases in the course of the day, it gives, the otherwise robust volumes, a sense of lightness.