Located on a large, steeply sloping site overlooking the Sea of Marmara, the Yapı Kredi Bank Operations Centre campus is the operational headquarters for one of Turkey’s leading retail banks, accommodating 2,500 staff. The campus is organised as a group of ten linked, modular courtyard buildings that step down across the terraced hillside, responding to topography and long-distance views. Their arrangement on a tartan grid allows future expansion.
Client: Yapı Kredi Bank, Turkey
Dates: 1996—1999
Architect:
John McAslan + Partners
Executive Architect: Metex
Consultants
Ove Arup & Partners
Peter Walker
General Contractor:
Baytur
Flexible workspace and cultural reference
Ranging from three to five storeys, the individual pavilions offer open-plan workspace around central lightwells. The campus accommodates a wide range of functions, including administrative offices, training and conference facilities, and social amenities.
These are connected by a network of covered internal streets that form the social and organisational heart of the complex. Inspired by the courtyards and covered markets of traditional Ottoman settlements, these spaces are reinterpreted in a contemporary idiom, shaded by yellow fabric awnings and lined with trees. At the junctions, cylindrical stair towers wrapped in brushed aluminium and cast glass blocks make a delicate counterpoint to the weight of the principal fair-faced concrete structure.
Structured like a city in microcosm, the densely populated operations centre is both efficient and spatially rich, fostering community, a sense of belonging and enjoyment of the working day.
