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Manis Office
Manis Office
A single edifice that occupies the whole length of the site (270 meters). The length of the building refers to the Seaside Park, while the perpendicular wings downsize the effect of its length, breaking down the mass to the scale of the neighborhood. The nodes of intersection are the focal points. They are conceived as violent interruptions of the linear mass by 8 voids sizing 11x11x11 m. These cubic atriums repeat regularly every 33 meters, but only as variations. The variation is performed on the level of materiality and openness. Their bottom is always a water surface and their roof serves as a skylight. The pools occupy the whole width of the building thus implying their supremacy and encouraging the visitor to try each one of them. The alternative is to follow the corner passages, perceived as short ‘detours’; a movement that momentarily takes the visitor ‘outside’ of the building. Guest accommodation occupies the first and the second floor. The main corridor runs along the east side and penetrates the atriums, allowing the tenants to have an overview of the pools. Four circulation cores, allocated in the wings towards the city, allow immediate access to the ground floor. The spaces adjacent to these cores are used as meeting hubs between leisure and accommodation.
Architects: Thanassis Manis, Yorgos Pantazis, Ilias Pitsios. Competition, Liepaja - Latvia, June 2014