Faithful+Gould - Athens, Greece,

Date: 03 Aug 2010

Faithful+Gould in €550 million project in the heart of Athens.

A €550 million project managed by Faithful+Gould to provide green spaces and educational and cultural facilities in the heart of Athens is helping to boost the Greek capital's economy.

Faithful+Gould is working closely with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) and award-winning architect Renzo Piano to deliver the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), the first public / private endeavour of its size and scale in Greece. The project will provide 20 hectares of green space, the Stavros Niarchos Park, in the middle of Athens; and accommodate the Greek National Opera and the National Library of Greece, which the British Library is helping to develop.

At its Athens office, Faithful+Gould has a full team dedicated to the SNFCC, which will grow to 15 employees during the course of the project, using supplies and manpower from the local area wherever possible. Once complete, the SNFCC will provide employment for up to 1,000 people in and around Athens.

Environmentally progressive, state of the art facilities will be evident at the SNFCC as will the aesthetics of the design towards the area's heritage. International standards for design, function and accessibility are being adopted, with particular regard for visitors with special needs.

Faithful+Gould is providing a host of services including project and cost management, acting as employer's agent plus risk and value management. In addition, Faithful+Gould is also advising the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to obtain gold standard of LEED, with aspirations to reach platinum, the highest standard.

Taking a leading role in balancing the expenditure to achieve maximum level of LEED accreditation, Faithful+Gould also provide guidance on post occupation issues, which will shape the long term sustainability of the project. In keeping with the aim to create an emissions neutral facility, the SNFCC has been conceptualized with the highest standards of environmental sustainability. This can be seen in the design of the roof, which features an energy canopy of almost 10,000m2 of interconnected photovoltaic cell panels with the aim of producing up to 1.4MWp - providing a 21st century landmark in one of the worlds most historic cities.

Neil Clemson, Faithful+Gould's project manager on the SNFCC scheme, said: "This is a really exciting project that demonstrates our commitment to Greece as part of our expanding operations in Europe. The vision of the SNFCC is breathtaking, and we are honoured to be working with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop to create such a landmark development."

The design and development of the SNFCC has now been approved, with an expected completion date of 2015. Faithful+Gould's dedicated Athens team have also been appointed to two further projects in Athens: a new regional office for Bloomberg and LEED advice on a major commercial development in the Paiania area of Athens.

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