Project Name
The White Walls
Posted in
Public facilities
Location
6 Stasinou Avenue
1065 Nicosia
Cyprus
Architecture Practice
Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Area (sqm)
10000
Completed
April 2015
Detailed Information
Project NameThe White WallsPosted inPublic facilitiesLocation
6 Stasinou Avenue
1065 Nicosia
Cyprus
Architecture PracticeAteliers Jean NouvelArea (sqm)10000CompletedApril 2015

The Cypriot capital of Nicosia made some serious waves in the architecture world a few years ago, when Zaha Hadid Architects won the competition for the redesign of the city’s main square. Essentially a bridge spanning Nicosia’s Venetian moat, the square will be transformed into a curvaceous, brilliant-white platform that will connect the within-the-walls old city with the contemporary city centre beyond. Standing on the contemporary side of this division is another, recently completed landmark that glows in the strong Mediterranean sun: The White Walls, a mixed-use white-concrete tower designed by French Pritzker award-winning architect, Jean Nouvel, and constructed by Nice Day Developments - a construction company founded in 1996 by businessman and famous art collector Dakis Joannou and his son Christos Joannou

Situated on 6 Stasinou Avenue, the 16-storey building includes retail spaces at street level, office spaces, individual apartments and a duplex penthouse with a rooftop pool. The north façade features large balconies facing the nearby mountain range, while the building’s two sides are perforated with a pixelated pattern that reminds of pixelated Morse-code messages; some of the openings on these two sides are quite large and contain private gardens with local plants that spill outside, adding to the overall design’s sense of randomness and vitality. The rear of the building faces south, which is the side that suffers most from the scorching summer sunshine; to combat that, the architect has planted lush gardens for each floor that cover up 80 percent of the elevation, thus acting as a natural shield from the sun and creating a connection with nature for the people inside.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Some of the pixelated openings are quite large and contain private gardens with local plants that spill outside.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

The apartment’s floor plan - based on the typical 20th-century Cypriot house, whereby all the rooms are usually organised around a main living space with a small garden at the back- sees a large living space with private balcony-garden at the back, and two lines of rooms on either side in each apartment. Meanwhile, a central courtyard planted with trees, and rooftop terrace covered with slanting pergolas that add movement and dynamism to the whole composition are seen in the penthouse crowning the tower. Currently Cyprus’ second-tallest building, measuring 69 meters in height, The White Walls was awarded the Best Tall Building of Europe 2016 Award by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH); with this award, The White Walls joins the prestigious line-up of European buildings that have previously been bestowed with this honour, which includes Boeri Studio’s Bosco Verticale in Milan, OMA’s De Rotterdam in Rotterdam and Renzo Piano’s The Shard in London.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Christos Panagides.

Photo by Christos Panagides.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Christos Panagides.

Photo by Christos Panagides.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Photo by Yiorgis Yerolymbos.

Message on the Walls: Jean Nouvel Completes Pixelated Tower in Nicosia, Cyprus

1 of