This year’s Open House Thessaloniki festival was one of the largest and most vibrant editions yet, serving as a beacon that drew the city’s residents into a meaningful dialogue about sustainability, reuse, cultural identity, and the future of the urban landscape. With the Open House Europe 2025 theme of ‘Future Heritage’ at its core, the festival offered free access to spaces that are usually inaccessible, inviting visitors to examine the city’s built environment through a fresh lens.

A total of 73 buildings opened their doors to the public, supported by 500 dedicated volunteers and an organisational team that coordinated the various programmes, guided tours, and parallel events. The festival’s specific title, ‘Future Heritage—today’s architecture, tomorrow’s legacy’, guided all aspects of the event: from the selection of buildings and guided tours to the visual identity and the OPEN PHOTO competition, titled ‘Reflections of the Future Heritage’.

A Programme of Three Dimensions

Since all featured buildings were part of this year’s theme, the programme was organised into three key categories. Each highlighted a different dimension of architectural evolution and the ongoing dialogue between past, present, and future.

Preserved Heritage included buildings of historical or architectural value that retained their original form, even after restoration. This category highlighted the importance of architectural heritage and the enduring value of authenticity within the contemporary urban landscape.

Transformation focused on buildings redesigned or repurposed to meet contemporary needs. These projects highlighted the sustainable reuse of the built environment, presenting adaptation as a creative alternative to demolition and a way to honour the past while reimagining it for the future.

Sustainable Design showcased contemporary projects that integrated seamlessly with their natural and urban surroundings. It featured designs that embraced innovative materials, new technologies, and sustainable principles, emphasising sustainability not only as a design approach but as a defining element of tomorrow’s architectural legacy.

Highlights of the Programme

Among the most popular sites were historic and industrial landmarks, as well as contemporary educational buildings and newly re-established hotels in the city centre. These sites stood out for their architectural significance and the unique opportunity they offered to access spaces not typically open to the public.

Representing the Preserved Heritage category, The Excelsior Hotel drew significant attention. Constructed in 1928 in the heart of Thessaloniki’s commercial district, the building stands out for its three-sided, perfectly symmetrical façade—facing the junction of Mitropoleos and Komninon streets—and its distinctive neoclassical features.

In the Transformation category, the Koukoumpani Mansion offered a glimpse into adaptive reuse. A listed building constructed in 1926, it originally housed the Bank of Thessaly before serving as the Commodity Exchange until 1980. Following extensive restoration between 2022 and 2025, this historic landmark now hosts the Il Conformista Casa Storica hotel.

Looking towards the future, the new Pinewood American International School was a key feature of the Sustainable Design category. Located within the historic Anatolia College campus in Pylaia, on the outskirts of the city, the building represents a contemporary architectural landmark. It emphasises experiential education and sustainable design, offering a vibrant learning environment tailored to prepare students for a globalised future.

Walking the Industrial Legacy

A central component of the festival’s engagement with the theme was the OPEN WALK: ‘The Industrial Heritage of Thessaloniki’.

In the middle of the 19th century, the first industrial facilities began to appear in Thessaloniki, marking the city’s passage into the industrial era. These facilities were pioneers of their time, utilising revolutionary methods and materials patterned after European innovations. The walk allowed visitors to discover this industrial inheritance, exploring a landscape composed of production units like flour and spinning mills, transport networks, and infrastructure.

The route guided visitors through the western edge of the city centre, starting from Villa Petridi—a symbol of the city’s commercial influence—and continuing towards the slaughterhouses. The tour explored various industrial complexes, such as Fix and Hub 26. While the shells of some complexes are no longer in use, they have survived to this day, while new developments like Hub 26 emerged as symbols of renewal, connecting the area’s past with its future.

The purpose of this route was to allow visitors to pause in familiar terrain and observe how the history of the city is retold through architecture. From historic landmarks to contemporary designs, the festival reminded attendees that the present moment, and the buildings we construct today, will also become history one day.