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Architects: GMW MIMARLIK
- Area: 4800 m²
- Year: 2016
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Photographs:Gürkan Akay
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Manufacturers: dormakaba, Artema, Dortek, Ersa Mobilya, Filli Boya, Gursa, Hafele, Rast Mobilya, Vitra, Yapı Blok, Ytong
Text description provided by the architects. GMW MIMARLIK, under the leadership of Ali Evrenay Ozveren, Dicle Demircioglu and Pinar Ilki Emekci, has been responsible for major transportation projects around the world including several international airport terminals and train stations. One of their recent commissions was for the design of the Operations & Maintenance Building for the Eurasia Tunnel of Istanbul’s Bosphorus.
Operations & Maintenance Building is the nerve center of Eurasia Tunnel, a major infrastructure project connecting the Asian and European sides of Istanbul’s Bosphorus, having a 14.4m diameter and 5.4km long two-deck, 3.4km of which is bored 25m below the sea bed.
The 2-storey tube-like built form of the O&M Building hovers above the ground level maintenance facilities, and symbolizes the tunnel entry from the Asian side. The design objective has been to create a contemporary building with a distinctive architectural expression, which not only meets its functional and technical requirements but also responds to its immediate context and symbolizes the highest technological level of Eurasia Tunnel. The natural contours of the site have been maintained as a landscaped hill and the maintenance components of the building have been disguised behind the site contours leaving the office structure floating freely above. The double-skin façades protect the energy efficient building interior from the sun. The outer skin formed in perforated metal panels, with a subtle wave-like motif, not only serve to provide solar protection but also create a glowing symbol for this great engineering feat at night.
