KÂAT Architects has won first prize in the national competition to design a new wildlife research and rehabilitation center for Iztuzu Beach in Turkey. Created to help protect one of the rarest natural ecosystems in the world, the competition was organized by the the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization of Turkey. The project aims to be an environmentally sensitive facility that will help ensure the cyclic continuity of the natural and cultural resources of Iztuzu Beach.
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The new DEKAMER station (Research, Rescue and Rehabilitation Center for Sea Turtles) is designed to raise awareness while motivating and encouraging researchers, volunteers and visitors from around the world. Designed with a negative carbon footprint, the project is located where Anatolia meets the Mediterranean Sea on a variable landscape with features formed by natural elements of Iztuzu Beach. The important elements such as habitats, species and processes that make up the biological and ecological characteristics of the area are the main focus.
The proposed wildlife center prioritizes use and experience. The design takes inspiration from the organically curved and dynamic traces of the beach tides, the surrounding tall red pines and the reeds which form part of the surrounding ecosystem. In terms of form, the design is derived from the natural phenomenon called ‘the crown shyness’ where the trees do not touch each other in order to let the other live while maintaining their own lives.
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As the team explains, the design consists of multiple canopy structures. These canopies are shaped according to the trees and reflect the slope of the topography. They do not rest on the ground, allowing the natural life of the soil to continue. Each canopy works with the adjacent one, with the trees and the continuous sound of the sea. In this context, all the spaces are made to be experimental. Every aspect of the design offers perspectives, with each canopy describing a distinctive program consisting of closed, semi-open and open spaces. The spaces are freely constructed under the canopies and the narrow columns are made to work with the vertical nature of the surrounding tree trunks.
News via KÂAT Architects
