Olive oil factory at Pylos
The site is located in the semirural area of Pylos and surrounded by olive groves and vineyards. The clients’ brief requested the design of a building that would accommodate the needs of a modern production, processing and packaging unit of olive oil and those of a corresponding one for edible olives. It was of essence that the design and implementation of the proposal would be realised within a short amount of time and on a limited budget.
The building concept is to interpret the unique characteristics of the landscape. A zigzagged roof coloured like the olive leaves refers to the ridge of the olive groves and a red brick orthogonal grid "base" reminds the characteristic colour of the area soil.
The main compositional concept was based on organising the floor plan into three distinct zones that house the according functions; the edible olives unit on the north side, the oil unit in the south and a storage and packaging zone with public spaces and offices in the center. The access to the building, both for the public and the employees as well as for the olives – being the raw material to be processed – happens on the west side, whilst the finished products are stored and then distributed on the east side. Organizing the building into three distinct longitudinal zones that operate one-way responds to the industrial character of the building, based on the design and perceptual model of a "production line", while serving at the same time the optimal specifications that define modern hygiene standards in food production.
This is a structure with steel load-bearing elements and prefabricated filling panels, for the building to be constructed in a short time and with limited costs. The vertical perforated walls of the southern and northern side in combination with the filling walls that are positioned very close to them, work as double-shell facade shading from the intense southern sun and controlling the northern wind, thus enhancing the thermal behavior of the building.
Title: Olive oil factory at Pylos
Location: Papoulia, Pylos, Greece
Architect: Thomopoulos Dimitris
Associate Architects: Kanellou Nikoletta, Christofi Maria
Structural Engineering: Koukouna Olympia
Site Area: 7.828 m2
Total Surface: 785 m2
Design Date: 2013
Completion Date: 2014
Photographer: Milionis Fotis
