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SERVICES
GSQUARED Architects offer a wide range of services aiming at complete and integrated building design solutions tailored to the requirements of each project and client. In detail, these services include:
1. Architectural Design
GSQUARED undertake architectural design preparation and implementation of all stages, such as Preliminary Design, Final Design and Construction Design of new building projects, as well as exterior and interior renovations, according to the customer’s needs and under the specifications set by the Building and Construction Laws and Regulations.
2. Real Estate Development
As architects we understand the great impact real estate development has on the built environment. Greece is dominated by old and timeworn properties that although many are located in valued areas have lost their worth throughout time due to the lack of maintenance and attention. Therefore, Gsquared Architects renovate and upgrade existing buildings and spaces in order to provide both design integrity and financial robustness.
3. Repair and Restoration of Listed Buildings
Design preparation and implementation for the protection, conservation and restoration of existing buildings located in traditional settlements or in historical parts of cities, neoclassical urban buildings and listed buildings designated as protected by the Modern Monuments Service of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
4. Special Constructions and Furniture Design
By framing the statement of the famous Italian architect Ernesto Rogers that he wanted to design everything “dal cucchiaio alla città” (“from the spoon to the city”) Gsquared Architects undertake the design of both buildings and their content. For us, the design of special constructions and objects allows us to produce ideas on a smaller, more viable scale where their realization coexists with the space and its users, giving a complete experience.
5. Landscape and Exterior Spaces Design
Starting from the need for contact with nature, as well as the outdoor use of a building’s functions, and by having as central goal the integration of the building with its environment, we undertake the design of exterior spaces, extending the internal activities to the outdoors, highlighting both the urban fabric or the suburban landscape, as well as the building itself, thus improving the conditions and quality of its users everyday life.
6. Issuance of Building Permits
Our office undertakes the issuance and processing of Building and other permits, such as the Demolition Permit, the Building Permit, the Approval of Small Scale Works and the Operation Permit of Hygienic Interest for all types of buildings, such as hotels, commercial and industrial buildings. The issuance of permits includes the necessary approvals from services such as the Architectural Councils, the Ephorates of Antiquities, the Gas Company and the Aviation, depending on the type and location of the project.
7. Construction / Supervision of Projects
Our office undertakes in collaboration with our experienced and specialized crews, foremen, technical staff and certified suppliers the implementation of our own or any project assigned to us.
8. Issuance of Certificates
- Legality Assurance Certificate
We issue a Certificate of legality for property transfers (parental benefits – sales – mortgages) and rental agreements. It includes the inspection of the building and is issued in accordance with the specifications set by law.
- Main Use Spaces Certificate
We issue a Certificate of Main Use Spaces, which is required for the issuance of a license for the establishment and operation of food stores, health care stores, as well as for private health service providers, such as clinics, dental clinics, diagnostic laboratories and pharmacies.
9. Arrangements / Legalization of Unauthorized Buildings
With a thorough knowledge of the Regularization of unauthorized buildings and establishments, and with a vast experience in cases of present and past legislations, our office undertakes all the necessary procedures, such as to search for a building’s authorization file in Urban Planning department or to reconstitute a file if it’s missing and is required, record and calculate the fine, submit an application and monitor its progress, and finally draw the required plans and designs in collaboration with surveyors, civil and mechanical engineers, when this is necessary.
10. Energy Inspection of Buildings & Issuance of Energy Efficiency Certificate
GSQUARED, as well as in collaboration with other certified Energy Inspectors, the prerequisite Energy Performance Certificate (EPCs) for notarial deeds and rental aggreements is provided quickly and consistently.
11. Energy Upgrade of buildings
Our office undertakes the necessary designs and actions in order to reduce the energy needs of buildings for heating and cooling, such as external thermal insulation of walls, roof insulation, replacement of windows and upgrading of heating with the possibility of installing natural gas and autonomy systems. The energy upgrade saves energy, which is particularly important for the environment’s protection, while at the same time the building is energy upgraded, offering a very significant reduction in energy consumption, lower operating costs and saving money for its users.
12. Passive Fire Protection Study
Our office undertakes the Design of the Passive Fire Protection based on the current legislation and coordinates with our associate mechanical engineers, responsible for the Active Fire Protection Design, in order to obtain from the Fire Brigade Service the necessary Fire Protection building permits.
13. Expertise Investigation and Reports
At the request of the client, our office carries out the appropriate procedures to identify, investigate, explain and check technical issues such as the inspection of buildings, the detection of defects and the assessment of the method and the cost of their repair, the control of application of technical terms and specifications in constructions, control of the implementation of the urban planning legislation, the stage of project development, the technical studies, etc. After the inspection, it prepares a report of expertise with exceptional attention and diligence, which is an important element in legal actions that may follow.
14. Consulting support
Our office provides consulting services for plots and buildings under construction by conducting an inspection of the property based on the permitted building conditions. We propose, tailored to the customer needs, volumetric and morphological solutions with an approach to construction costs. A similar procedure is followed in properties for renovation, where the space is inspected according to its existing use and then solutions are proposed for the new use or the users’ needs.