The essential goal of the design was the creation of a building that would act as a symbol. The Multipurpose Cultural Center of Morfou Municipality is meant to serve functional needs. It will also house the memories of the city and the hopes of the burghers for repatriation.
The main idea of the design was the creation of a green skyline. This is achieved with a unified planted zone, that crosses the building plot along it’s longer dimension. This zone makes use of the elevation of the ground and it creates spaces sometimes open -like the upper and lower public square- and sometimes “closed”, like the exhibition space and the event hall at the ground floor.
The building specifications required a distinction of the uses with a cultural character (exhibitions-event hall) and the offices of the municipality. This was one of the elements that led us to the final design. The climatic conditions of Nicosia and the intention of creating a landmark for the burghers were the other parameters that molded the design. The result was the treatment of the office volume as a separate shell that detaches from the rest of the building body and can function independently.
This way the building is perceived in its entity as a unified platform of accessible green public space, on top of which a separate, light metal-wooden volume is “floating”, creating a sheltered square. One more crucial choice concerning the configuration of the final structure is the opening of the atrium, up to the highest part of the building. The atrium is the core of the configuration of the different spaces and has a multifaceted character. It incorporates the natural environment to the interior of the building, creating an enclosed outdoors, around of which unfold the exhibition, waiting and resting areas. Additionally, it offers the possibility to expand the exhibition in an outdoor space, within the shell.