Vakko

Istanbul, Turkey

Visualization © Oppenheim Architecture + Design LLP

Architects: Oppenheim Architecture

Scope

100,000 SF office building. Architecture/Interior design

Location

Istanbul, Turkey

Vakko's new headquarters provides facilities for Turkey's premiere Fashion and Media conglomerate. Incorporating corporate offices, radio/TV studios, and a large art gallery in an existing structural shell, the project synthesizes a heavily embedded context with desires of a future global recognition and technological advancement. Informed by the origins of the company (as a manufacturer of textiles) and both figurative and literal notions of skin as primitive shelter-- the building's façade is comprised of 2 layers-- an internal operable façade (to modulate natural air circulation) and an exterior façade of layered glass cut to various amorphous shapes recalling the cellular structure of epi-dermis-- natures most technologically advanced skin. The facility incorporates the latest 'green' technologies for energy reduction/production and utilizes local materials and 'healthy building' techniques to establish an optimized work environment focused on human comfort and performance. A forest of indigenous trees and flowers is planted around and inside the building-- merging interior and exterior as the faceted façade reflects/refracts light/view creating an ever changing collage of sky and garden.