New Office Building for the Synergasias Co-op Bank in Kiti

The building which houses the co-op bank of the villages Kiti, Pervolia, Tersefanou and Meneou is located in Kiti, Larnaca district, in a plot at the north end of the village, next to the commercial facilities of the company and close to the local high school.

Besides the bank, it is meant to create a public venue, offering the neighboring communities a meeting area, an assembly hall, possibilities for lectures and exhibitions and a small café.
The three levels of the building cover a total of 1070m2 in a site of 6730m2.
The building lies along the central street, opposite the high school, reinforcing the public character of the street but also creating a continuous linear barrier from the heavy traffic.

The access to the building is through the internal plaza which connects the building with the existing facilities of the commercial department, the parking area and the small public park that is created.
Banking area and the café are placed in the ground floor and lecture hall and meeting room on the first floor. Storing, archive and server room are placed in the basement.
The different functions of the building are arranged in distinguishable groups around the central double height atrium. This ensures the safe function of the banking area in relation with the activities that take place in the other areas.
A free helical path is thus created leading visitors from the atrium through the café up to the public facilities on the first floor. The internal layout of the building and the horizontal and vertical circulation are projected on the elevations. They emphasize on the separate levels and the internal helical path.

Emphasis was also given in the quality of natural and artificial light, depending on the internal space function. In the ground floor the large glass openings are shaded by concrete and wooden shades which allow the natural light to enter the interior spaces without preventing the optical contact between inside and outside.
The total transparency of the ground level comes in contrast with the focused perspectives of the first level windows, penetrating the opaque concrete walls and the translucent surfaces of the u-glass facades.
The facades are built of fare faced concrete surfaces, curtain walls and u-profiled glass in double glazing arrangement.
Sustainability has been an important factor in the design process and it was based on simple rules, such as the shading of the facades, the use of proper insulation in the exterior surfaces where necessary, and the use of the double height atrium for ventilating and cooling the building. The area of the atrium in the ground floor and first floor, along with the café and the main staircase, act as an intermediate zone between interior and exterior spaces.