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Architects: GAD Architecture
- Area: 1040 m²
- Year: 2014
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Photographs:Alp Eren
It’s so ambitious and courageous that the word food court just falls short.Caddeopens in Mecidiyeköy, Istanbul, bringing more than 25 carefully chosen fashion and lifestyle retailers and of course restaurants on Trump Towers’ roof terrace and turns it in to much more than what you might expect from any other mall.
In using the container – as an every architects dream, breaking the boundaries of modularity, uniformity and ubiquity – the project combines the individual units into a redundant system to transform and change its character from there. Playing with the positve and negative volumes, alternation of open, semi-open and enclosed space, Cadde becomes more than simple a container transformation, but more an integral master plan, re-adding these qualities that we so familiar with from the ancient model of the bazaar and agora into the introverted shoebox design of today.
Atmosphere
The simple and imaginative concept brings modular units to the area between the two towers, creating main alleys and secondary aisles. Criss-cross cuts through that primordial mass then maximize the façade, whilst providing short cuts and thereby create exiting space and individuality at every corner throughout the project.
Different cuisines in a mix with contemporary retail requires a sensitive design for every single unit, establishing and underlining it’s personal identity, thus contributing to a solid overall appearance. The lower level, holding 18 shops and restaurants, provides an urban setting with plazas, wider alleys, down to more narrow shortcuts. Shared seating as well as adjacent, themed terraces invite the visitors to remain, widely openable façades carry the individual atmospheres outside and erasethe boundaries between in- and outside, whilst large glas façades provide transperancy and gorgeous displays.
The second, upper level is much less dense. Green and large deck spaces invite to remain and observe from above. Five restaurants invite to their generous terraces, green areas offer an agreeable sojourn and connect several units. The unifying design approach also becomes most obvious on the terrace level. Each unit resembles outworn shipping containers folding, sliding and swinging open. Where on the lower level corrugated steels facades hold menus and infographics - but in general fall victim to the high density and desired transparency - the container facades on the upper level entirely become the expressive and functional shell of each unit.
Structural & technical
A steel frame construction paired with an underfloor technical layer provides the flexibility of layouts for each unit. Fresh and waste water, electricity and climatization are delivered to the exact point they are needed. This matrix furthermore offers opportunity for a great variety of applicable materials for the individual modules, ranging from 15 to 90 m2, each with a clear 3.00 m head height.
To maximize the usability of the development, the corridors and terraces are openable in the summer, protected from intense sunlight, but entirely closed and heated in the colder period of the year to cultivate the space. The hidden service corridor, as well as a buffer zone to hold goods temporarily during re-stocking, connects to the service elevator and storage areas in the basement; refrigerated trash storage is available both in basement and on site level.
Summary
The synthesis of the container theme and the eclectic and colourful interiors define the nature and charm of the project – providing different qualities on the two levels, throughout 25 units, each with it’s own character and style. Well-arranged and staged on the users end, creating a unique urban atmosphere, and orchestrated behind the scenes, providing a strong service infrastructure on the operator’s side,
Caddeis an innovative, new concept creating an added value and taking the concept of a food court to a completely new level.
