Community Center in Esenler

2021, Esenler, Istanbul, Türkiye

The architectural design competition for social centres presents a significant opportunity to address a major shortfall in Istanbul—a city that has recently undergone intensive development driven by both the public and private sectors—and is set to address the city’s lack of social infrastructure. When designing these social centres, the relationship between the building and its immediate surroundings—at both the urban and neighbourhood levels—must be carefully conceived, without succumbing to the urge to build for the sake of building, as has been the case in the recent past.

Overcoming the hurdles of a fragmented urban fabric

The design area is surrounded by dense developments such as the Esenler District Police Headquarters and TOKİ housing estates. Furthermore, the existing pedestrian circulation has been cut off due to security measures implemented by the Police Headquarters.

The landscape fabric of the site is rather barren and fragmented, and therefore offers no contribution to the city or the neighbourhood, despite the presence of various recreational areas at a broader scale.

Quality Urban Space

The analysis of filled and empty spaces reveals that the project site is surrounded by blocks of buildings. In an area with such dense development, it was deemed important to create an high quality urban space.

The design aims to alleviate the density of this area, mitigate the overwhelming massing of the Police Headquarters, and provide a high-quality urban void that serves the immediate neighbourhood and users of the community facilities.

Green and Recreational Continuity

The urban space created has been levelled with uninterrupted recreational and landscaping features throughout the site, resulting in a well-defined and high-quality pedestrian and green corridor.

Formation of the Building Volume

The 7-metre difference in elevation within the project site was treated as one of the key design inputs, and the programme of requirements—comprising four distinct functions—has been progressively arranged across three different ground levels. By positioning the volumes against the northern perimeter, where the elevation is at its highest, a continuous linear green belt has been created in front of the building. Shaped across three main levels, this green belt has been transformed into a rich recreational area that is nourished by the social centre’s various functions and where these functions interact with one another.

The Day-Care Centre and Kindergarten blocks, which require privacy and exclusive use, have been positioned at elevation +3.50 and designed to allow direct access via Köyiçi Street.

The internal courtyards created within the blocks are oriented towards the public urban space, offering both a sheltered, inward-facing environment and establishing a meaningful visual and spatial connection with the main recreational area through these courtyards.