ISTANBUL BILGI UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
Eyüp/İstanbul ︎ 2007 ︎ Construction Area: 7.720 m2 ︎ Site: 118.000 m2 ︎ Education ︎ Gaye Keskin Erol, Lale Ceylan, Mehmet Hakan Akaydın, Nevzat Sayın, Selin Babayiğit, Sibel Özdoğan

Boiler Houses No.4 and 6, which are currently situated on the Santral Campus of Istanbul Bilgi University, were built in 1914. Along with the structures of the Silahtarağa Power Station, which became defunct and was abandoned in 1983, these buildings are subject to preservation orders due to their status as industrial heritage and special structures. Since Istanbul Bilgi University obtained the long-term usage rights for this area in 2004, we, as NSMH, have undertaken numerous projects to both preserve and refunction these structures. However, after the prioritization of the construction of the other buildings in the campus, no implementation other than the approved dismantling and reinforcement of the two boiler houses was carried out until 2013.


In both boiler houses 4 and 6, there is one old boiler that has survived and has a preservation order. They underwent subjected to special treatment and have been preserved in their original condition. The boilers were the original owners of these buildings, we accepted their contribution to the space as important data.

The studios, exhibition, and jury spaces of the Faculty of Architecture were designed to uphold the principle of openness that we established within the building. Although we faced some challenges when the university increased the number of students to be admitted by fifty percent, the studios at five different levels were visually connected to maintain the initially-desired transparency. Undergraduate studios, model workshops, and exhibition areas were placed in boiler house 4, whereas a large portion of the library and jury area, graduate school studios, common studios, and faculty rooms assumed their places in boiler house 6.


Built structurally as a thin envelope to protect the boilers, the existing shell was reconceived to provide the necessary building physics conditions as the buildings were assigned a new function. A wall-joinery system was introduced to comply with the floors and façade spans behind the existing outer façade and to provide the new standards of comfort.

Embellished with the gallery voids supporting the open space structure within the possibilities of the steel structure applied in line with the reinforcement of 2006, the interior spaces helped capture the spirit of the existing building.











The two buildings were connected with common spaces on the ground floor. However, as an upper case, a third ‘intermediate structure’ with the function of a conference hall and a passageway, which will allow the buildings to be connected from more points, has been designed but has not yet been built.
As a result, the transformation process of buildings 4 and 6 has been completed with an architectural approach that respects what has been done in the past but also makes its own presence felt.