PNP037
House of Treasure

Eirini Geronta, Afroditi Korogiannou


The General Accounting Office of the State (GAC) is located at 37 Panepistimiou Street, at the intersection of Panepistimiou and the pedestrianised Korai, between the Athenian Trilogy. The plans of the original building were drawn up by Konstantinos Kyriakidis (1881-1942) and the building had arched openings on the ground floor, an ornate entrance and a corner dome, which can be seen in the photographs of the period. At the beginning of the 20th century, the GNL was substantially reorganised and upgraded to the 'Ministry of Treasure'. In 1934 the building became the property of the Civil Servants' Share Fund and the work was entrusted to Emmanuel Lazaridis ( 1894-1961 ). Lazaridis gave a different image to the building, removing the dome and reducing the decorative elements.

In our intervention we change little or no the external appearance / form of the building while our concern is the functional redefinition of the space. We envision a space with strong cultural significance. Considering the location of the building on the university street and close to the main building of the Bank of Greece, a smaller building of the Bank and the Numismatic Museum, we choose to design the Treasury of Greece which will store 47% of the country's gold. The building will be composed of the gold vaults , exhibition spaces, information spaces, offices, control center, half-time residences and an observation deck on the fifth floor with utilization of the location and the goddess ( Acropolis, Lycabettus , Trilogy ). The aim is to alternate spaces and functions and increase mobility in the building. For these reasons we make the ground floor more perforated with large openings and with a fusion of the ground floor with the mezzanine, creating transitional spaces and double heights making the tour of the space an experience for the visitor and giving a new dimension to the space.