Bath-based landscape architects Grant Associates has been appointed to help redesign the campus of one of Greece’s top colleges to better reflect its global academic reputation.
Established in 1886, Anatolia College is located in a beautiful and historic setting in the hills above Thessaloniki.
The private, non-profit establishment, which caters to all levels of education, has a vision to enhance its student experience, better reflect its preeminent academic reputation both nationally and internationally and allow significant expansion of the student population at its American College of Thessaloniki.
Grant Associates, which works on largescale sustainable projects across the world, is working with a team that includes Bath-headquartered consulting engineers Buro Happold’s Athens office on the Anatolia College scheme.
As well as reimagining the identity of its 22-hectares campus, designed 100 years ago by landscape architect Elise Hoesly White, and refining the quality of place/architecture, other key objectives include future-proofing the educational space for students and staff, cherishing the local heritage, further embedding sustainability, celebrating nature and improving key functional aspects of the estate.
The design concepts, pictured, are built on a theme of a ‘forest campus’ unifying the site through a sensory and experiential journey.
They also included major new entrances, reworked ‘heartspace’ quads, doubling of nature, a new rooftop events space with panoramic sea and mountain views and a 600-seat state-of-the-art auditorium.
Grant Associates director Peter Chmiel described the campus as a legacy landscape that was “truly 100 years in the making”.
He added: “The rich and diverse gardens and landscape of Anatolia, crafted from a barren mountainside, are a living memorial to Elise Hoesly White.
It is a privilege to have this opportunity to help to shape the next landscape chapter and celebrate the legacy landscape whilst also responding to modern global concerns of climate change and biodiversity loss.
“Based on the themes of resilient nature, regenerative design, and research landscapes the ambition is to significantly increase nature, sports opportunities, flexible space, and external educational opportunities all within the framework of the beautiful and immersive gardens of Anatolia.’’
Grant Associates is part of a sustainability focused project design team selected by London-based architects Bennetts Associates which also includes London-based Alexi Marmot Associates (educational briefing) and Betaplan (Greek partner architects) as well as Buro Happold (sustainability/highways).
The framework masterplan for the project is targeted for completion and approval this summer.
Grant Associates is globally recognised for its environmentally driven work such as the iconic Supertrees and Gardens by the Bay in Singapore and, more recently, the innovative design of a revolutionary airport terminal in Bengaluru, India, that puts nature and biodiversity at the heart of the passenger experience.
Closer to home it has drawn up the overall landscape strategy for the 6,000-home Brabazon neighbourhood on the former Filton Airfield site in Bristol for YTL Developments.
In 2022 it was part of an international design team to develop a masterplan for a 600-hectare extension to the Rwandan capital Kigali, the first sustainable development of its kind in Africa.
