ConfEx Park officially endorsed by the Prime Minister of Greece

On 10th September, as part of the official opening of the 86th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF-HELEXPO), Kyriakos Mitsotakis – the Prime Minister of Greece – publicly endorsed the Conf_Ex project in Thessanolinki, Greece.  

At the launch event, TIF-Helexpo President Tasos Tzikas stated that "We are making good progress on the issue of regeneration" and noted how the construction works will be in operation to deliver the first phase of the project scheduled to complete in 2026 alongside the opening of a new exhibition centre.  

The new ConfEx Park, at the heart of Thessaloniki, embodies the city’s ambition to be the region’s major business and tourist destination. As lead landscape architect, we are working alongside architects Sauerbruch Hutton to reshape an urban area into a new park that can host international events and equally provide outdoor spaces for recreation and green areas for local residents.  

Its strategic location will make of this urban park a new destination for all who live and visit the city. Through the introduction of a new route across the park, the ‘Culture Path’ will connect the city’s east and west sides: from its major monuments and museums to the new metro station at Egnatia. This same path connects the park’s landscaped spaces to the new Conf_Ex Exhibition buildings.  

The landscape design is organised in three principal areas:  the western area between Aggelaki and the central axis that will becomes a space for play and temporary installations; the central area that fans out from the YMCA Square and the Contemporary Art Gallery to create a location for small scale cultural gardens, and garden cafes arranged around the existing curved canopy. The south area adjacent to Leoforus Stratou addresses the new Conference Centre and will become a large amphitheatre for performance and events. 

For more information about the project, see our project page. To read more about the Prime Minister’s announcement, click here.