Athenians go for a JHP experience at The Link

JHP has this week delivered final concepts for The Link, a 72 000m2 mixed-use development in Athens that opens early next year.

The consultancy’s work encompasses a commercial strategy and brand personality for the centre, naming and identity work, as well as architectural and environmental design for the entire complex.

The Link will open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will be comprised of entertainment offerings such as theatres, art galleries, clubs, spa and gym facilities, a broad selection of retailers, including a department store anchor tenant, a boutique hotel, food halls, bars and cafés.

According to JHP joint managing director Steve Collis, the mix was chosen to create a space ‘that is fundamentally used as an experience’, an offer that is unusual in central Athens.

The city has entertainment areas outside its centre but ‘it is rare for a big single building like this to become available in the centre of Athens,’ says Collis.

The Link is situated opposite the Greek parliament and at the crossroads of Kolonaki and Ermous Street, the Athenian equivalent of Oxford Street and Knightsbridge, says Collis.

‘We came up with the name The Link because the space will be a link between these two worlds – fast, pacey brands on one side and designer brands on the other – and will attract people from both,’ he adds.

The site targets ‘modern, cool and luxury loving’ consumers. Features include a glass floor on one level that looks down on a swimming pool below and ‘dramatic’ lighting of the exterior of the building, says Collis. The Link identity uses a colour palette of ‘lime greens and fuchsia’.

The group was appointed in September last year on the strength of its work for the new Athens international airport.