Our Zincirlikuyu project is a contemporary example of coworking spaces in Istanbul. The 5-storey building was originally designed to serve as the headquarters of a single company and is representative of the second-generation office buildings constructed in Istanbul during the 1980’s. The aging technical infrastructure and design of the building no longer fulfills the requirements of companies of that size who have now relocated to newer office blocks with contemporary architecture further along the Zincirlikuyu-Beşiktaş axis around the Levent-Maslak area.

The changing nature of the economy had rendered this building obsolete. It could either be torn down or it could be adapted to the current economy. The owners of the building decided to rent the building to a company specializing in coworking spaces. Our project arose from the need to transform this obsolete building into a space suitable for the needs of the sharing economy of the 21st century.

The ground floor of the building consists of the shared entrance, information desk, co-working spaces, and meeting rooms. The co-working spaces also take up the first floor of the building. The second floor consists of serviced offices and “think tank” areas designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Glass partitions were used on this floor to ensure the shared spaces benefited from natural light as much as possible in the split structure design. The penthouse houses the offices of the building’s owners. The electrical and mechanical systems of the buildings have been redesigned and the basement houses the plant rooms for these systems along with the parking garage.

Nearly all of the fixed furniture was designed and manufactured by degostudio. The corporate colors of the coworking space company and the furniture choices of their other coworking spaces were the dominant considerations in the choice of fixed and movable furniture.

Location

Istanbul, Turkey

Client

Alesta Yapı

Project year

2019

Commission

Interior Design

Project team

Volkan Taşkın, Özge Meriç, Hamide Somuncu

Area

2900 m²