The present building housing the Maritime Museum was finished in 1969. It is situated at sea level, below the coastal road of Akti Themistokleus. The initial plan regarding the form of the building was to give it the form of the great architectural Navy monument of the ancient city of Piraeus, the renowned Arsenal of Philon, which was an oblong three-aisled area. Those basic morphological elements are apparent in the current building.
It is a horseshoe-shaped, two-aisled area covering one single level. The inner aisle covers a total of 1,900 m2 and it is the main area hosting the museum facilities. The external aisle, where exhibits have also been placed outdoors, has the shape of a peristyle.
Thy exhibition space covers 1,700 m2. The entrance hall is exceptional, incorporating part of the Cononian fortification of the 4th ce. BC (Hall 4).
The exhibition area consists of nine halls and the course followed by visitors is linear following the shape of the site. The first two halls (2 and 3) are situated to the right of the entrance hall. Hall 2 has been named “Maritime Art Gallery”. This is where portraits of naval figures and Museum donors stand opposite seascapes and shipscapes. This hall is also used for lectures and temporary exhibitions.
The Museum also has a library and a reading room which are open to the public during museum days and hours.
At the end of the exhibition area there is the sanitation area as well as the Museum store and the administration office.
Outside the building there is a circular square where sculptures and important outdoors exhibits have been placed. For instance, visitors can see the turret of the submarine “Papanikolis” and anchors belonging to ships which participated in the naval battle of Navarino. In the summer several events take place in the outdoors grounds.