Type
Public, Governmental
Location
Beydağ, İzmir
Area
6.550 m2
Year
2023
Team
STUDIOEVRENBASBUG
Client
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality
İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Beydağ Social Facilities were designed to host a complex function within a dense and tightly-knit urban context, under quite straightforward building conditions. With its massing tectonics and spatial composition, the structure generates context-specific solutions and aims to become a strong social focal point at its location with its unique argument for urban space. In today's world where distances are shrinking and relationships are intertwining, even in a small Aegean town far from the center, this structure is an experiment both in adapting to the flow of time and current trends, and in generating a unique architectural language specific to its context.
The primary approach to the structure and the focal point it creates is anticipated to be from the south-east along Adnan Menderes Avenue. The building occupies a rectangular footprint of exactly 19.5 x 66 meters (divided evenly by structural axes of 7.75 meters) on a plot without defined setback distances. Along the main approach axis, it features a public space (plaza) at ground level, which is complemented by an amphitheater arrangement that utilizes this public space as a stage. In contrast to the existing use of the ground floor solely as a market area, the new proposal isolates the market area usage at a lower level, and the surface, consisting of ground and above-ground platforms, is designed as a public plane for social and cultural activities.
The amphitheater, opening onto the plaza at +0.40 elevation, leads users to functions located on the upper platform, such as the Conference/Assembly Hall, Cafe/Restaurant, while immediately behind it, at the same ground level, it accommodates logistical/administrative service functions of the facility and the Wedding Ceremony Hall function. These functions are situated within a tectonically suspended mass between the market area at -3.50 elevation below and the platform at +4.90 elevation above. Above this mass, in a fragmented tectonic arrangement, social and cultural functions such as the Conference/Assembly Hall (+4.90), Restaurant/Cafe (+4.90), Guest House (+8.50), Exhibition Hall (+8.50), and Library (+8.50) are located. This fragmented layout composed of platforms and masses is completed by a frame consisting of laminated wooden columns and beams that also defines the outer perimeter of the building. This architectural element, defining a semi-permeable enclosure, scales the structure tectonically and enables it to establish an interactive relationship with its context both physically and visually.
The mass effect of the building was reduced in three stages by using natural stone below ground level, rough concrete at ground and platform levels, and a laminated wooden frame in the building envelope on the platform. This was done to alleviate the sense of heaviness conveyed by the substantial presence of the building within the dense urban fabric.
The building's first underground floor (-6.70) is allocated for technical spaces, the second basement floor (-9.90), and the third basement floors (-13.10) are designated for a covered parking area. With the aim of overcoming the challenges posed by the parcel's geometry and increasing efficiency, a covered parking facility with a total capacity of 72 vehicles, accommodating 36 vehicles on each floor, was designed with the use of car lifts (platform-based).
We believe that the original spatial composition and architectural language of the building will create a significant landmark in its location. In this context, this new structure not only has the potential to become a local social/cultural focal point for Beydağ District but also holds the promise of becoming an attraction for nearby cities in the vicinity.
