One of the creative minds behind London’s Millennium Dome and Paris’ Pompidou Centre has declared Renzo Piano’s forthcoming national opera house and library in Athens to be “a work of pure genius.”

In a recent interview with our sister title CLADmag about the contemporary architectural projects he most admires, Mike Davies – a founding partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners – was quick to praise the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Centre, which is nearing completion.

“It's more than just a building,” said Davies. “It’s on the scale of the great Egyptian temples. It’s just a wonder.”

The Renzo Piano Building Workshop was tasked in 2008 with transforming a large car park left over from the 2004 Athens Olympic Games into a new cultural hub for the Greek capital, housing the National Library of Greece and Greek National Opera in one building.



The studio’s design is now taking shape. The opera wing will be composed of two auditoria – one dedicated to traditional operas and ballets, the other for more experimental performances – with the library located in a separate wing.

The facility will have a sloping grass roof which visitors will be able to climb. From here, they can reach a glass-walled box which rests on top of the building and contains a reading room – designed as a “public resource where culture is truly accessible to share and enjoy”. The vantage point will offer 360-degree views of Athens and the coast, restoring the connection between the city and the sea.

The bottom of the sloped roof will be connected with a new 170,000sq m (1,800,000sq ft) landscaped park – described by Davies as “absolutely stunning” – and a public space known as the Agora providing access to the centre’s bottom floors.

Gardens and green space will feature prominently and a new canal will run along a pedestrianised esplanade.

The complex is aiming for a LEED platinum rating. Natural ventilation is being extensively used and the building’s canopy roof is being topped with 10,000sq m (107,000sq ft) of photovoltaic cells. The architects claim this will be enough to generate 1.5 megawatts of power for the centre.

Work on the project is scheduled for completion by the end of the year. Funding is provided by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the centre will be controlled and operated by the Greek government.

Look out for our interview with Mike Davies in a forthcoming issue of CLADmag.