BAHÇEŞEHİR UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

ARCH 4013 PRESERVATION AND RESTORATION

FALL SEMESTER 2011/12

INST: PROF. DR. GÜL ASATEKİN

ASST. PROF. DR. SUNA ÇAĞAPTAY

T.A. BEGÜM ERÇEVİK

MIDTERM I

ESMA SULTAN HALL RESTORATION

BEYZA BOZKURT- 0726196/EZGİ AKÇA-0713460/RUZİYE YÜCEL-0715880/

SEVGİ AKDOĞAN-0715236

ESMA SULTAN YALI

HISTORY

A multipurpose event space in the Ortaköy district of Istanbul, built inside the ruins of a brick

palace. The three-storey brick building was designed by the renowned architect Sarkis Balyan

and finished in 1875 next to Ortaköy Mosque. It was presented to Esma Sultan (1873-1899),

the daughter of Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz, as a wedding gift.

The mansion remained in the possession of the Ottoman dynasty until 1915. The building was

used first as a tobacco warehouse and then as a coal depot from 1920 until 1975, when it was

destroyed by a fire.

Destroyed by fire over a century ago, the exterior brick walls are all that remain of the

building. In 1999 The Marmara Hotel decided to adaptively reuse the beautiful land-marked

ruin, keeping the walls as a framework and support for a modern interior space inserted within

to create an event and exhibition venue. Commissioned to renovate and redesign the space,

GAD designed a thin but strong stainless steel and glass box that is suspended within the

brick structure.

ORTAKOY PERVITITCH MAP

ARCHITECTURE/ REDEVELOPMENT

The building includes a bar, a restaurant, and an event hall at several levels. The building is

situated in a garden of 2,226 m2 (23,960 sq ft). The ground floor is 31.5 m (103 ft) wide, 27

m (89 ft) long and 3.80 m (12.5 ft) high. The first floor is merged with the second floor,

having dimensions of 31.5 m (103 ft) wide, 31 m (102 ft) long and 6.80 m (22.3 ft) high.

Glass buildings are often inappropriate in countries that have hot climates, however, the brick

surrounds that remain of the palace made it possible for GAD to introduce this rarely seen

architecture in Turkey, to Istanbul. The brick walls inadvertently create a shelter for the

transparent glass box from the sun, rain and wind. Multi-leveled, the new building

incorporates a bar and restaurant on the ground floor and a conference room or event space on

the first floor entered by a wooden and steel curved staircase. The glass box is tethered to the

brick walls with suspension rods, which ensures the two separate structures remain equidistant

from each other and can therefore withstand extreme weather conditions and earthquakes.

From the outside, the building gives the illusion that the palace remains in its original state.

From inside, guests are reminded of the building’s former incarnation with views of the

Bosphorus made possible though the original arched brick window frames. The building

encourages comparison between modern construction methods with those of 200 years ago.

The composition of new additions and the original

It can be seen that the exterior brick walls are shell for the new plan organization and like

shelter for it from wheather conditions. The old parts were kept and the new glass steel

construction was constructed in the original brick walls. Also the wet spaces are the new

additions to the building. Bar and restaurant are on the ground floor.

Conference room or event space are on the first floor. The ceiling height of this floor is higher

than the ground floor, because the original brick facade is three levels but the in the new

construction the first floor merged with the second floor so the new glass box has two levels.

Longitudinal cross-section

From the outside, the building gives the illusion that the palace remains in its original state

and the glass box can be seen from the original arched brick window frames. From the outside

the new addition-glass box construction is lost. From inside, it can be obviously differentiate

the original parts and the new parts. The transparent addition makes possible to see views of

the Bosphorus from the original arched brick window frames.

The building is situated in a garden and is front of the Bosphorus. The Ortaköy mosque is in

next to Esma Sultan hall. The Ortaköy mosque was buit in 1853 by the impreal of

Abdülmecit. It has baroque style. The mosque and the yali make a good composition from

the history. And there is an urban square called Ortakoy square between the mosque and yali.

It is agreed that Ortakoy mosque is concidered as a landmark today so it increases the yali’s

importance as cultural heritage. When it is looked at from the jeopolitical position, the yali is

important as much as the Bosphorus and the mosque. In this project, the existing, original

parts of the building were preserved and the additions were constructed inside the original

walls so there is no effects of the additions to the context of the building. there is no apperant

contribution to the building surroundings.

It can be seen that the steel and glass usage is totally new addition as both material and

construction for the property. They stand modest as a background and they emphasize the

original brick form. If it is looked at from the outside of the building carefully, the new

addition can be differentiated from the arched windows.

The new additions material galss, steel are is completely different from the original brick wall

but this example is different from other project because there is no add to exteriror of the

building the aim of the implementation is to put forward the original brick walls with giving

an adaptive re-use. The corncern of the project is being respectful and highlight the original

building and the new glass walls makes the bricks wall live because of the transparency.

The original function of the building is a palace that was a gift for Esma Sultan and the

existing function is multipurpose event space. Now, the building hosts weddings, festivals,

concerts some tv broadcasting programmes. The two functions are different from each other.

The change is normal because the centuries are diffenrent, the social,political sitiuation are

different. If the wooden interior of the yali wasn’t destroyed by fire, maybe the building

would be used as a museum building. the new function was adaptively reused because after

the destroy the building didn’t have any function. Also the location of the building is very

important. The area has big touristical potential because of the Ortaköy mosque and the

square. The area has prestige so the building hosts prestigious events. It makes the building

and its history more familiar.

When the restoration technique is evaluated, it is based on to emphasize the original brick

part. When the materials considered they do not overlap with each other, but in this example

glass and steel part is void part and brick part is solid part. From the outside, the history of

the building can be percieved. It shows that the material and techniques overlap with the

original part. they look they look one and in harmony together. The material selection is

about the aim of the project. Glass material is transparent and it highligts the original walls

and respect of it.

SOURCES

http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=9789

http://www.belgeler.com/blg/n3h/binalarin-yeniden-islevlendirilmesinde-mekansal-kurgunun-degerlendirilmesi-evaluation-of-spatial-relations-during-re-functioning-process

http://gadarchitecture.com/esma-sultan-palace.html

ORTAKÖY'DE TARİHSEL ÇEVRE ANALİZİ VE ESMA SULTAN YALISI  YTÜ Yüksek Lisans Tezi/Özlem BOZDAĞ Y. Doç. Dr. Neslihan SÖNMEZ