House in Kurucesme

  • Project Date: 2008
  • Location: Besiktas/Istanbul
  • Project Team: Sevinç Hadi, Tulin Hadi, İmre Hadi, Cem Ilhan,

Mezarlık Sokak (Cemetery Street), which begins on the Kuruçeşme coastal road next to the Tezkereci Osman Efendi Mosque in Kuruçeşme, makes a U-shaped turn, winds around the block, and connects to Kuruçeşme Street, also on the coast. A historic Ottoman cemetery and a house with a small garden form block number 165. To the north and higher, on Plot 1, lies a small house with a garden, while to the south, on the seaside, lies the historic cemetery. Kuruçeşme Street runs along the coast in front of the cemetery.
The building is a residential building built in the early 20th century. It is a detached, separate, and unique wooden structure within the predominantly wooden residential fabric of Kuruçeşme, which abuts each other. Three facades of the house overlook Mezarlık Sokak (Cemetery Street), while one facade overlooks partly its own garden, partly the cemetery, the cemetery’s trees, and through and above them, the Bosphorus.

The building has three floors, one basement, and a small garden. The building’s simplicity of plan, modest dimensions of the spaces, and sparse decorative elements suggest it was built as a modest, simple, and inexpensive residential structure. Having undergone numerous interventions over time, the building’s structural elements have worn out and reached the end of their useful life.

The restoration project proposed demolishing the building and rebuilding it as a timber frame structure on a reinforced concrete foundation and basement. Materials were selected that would not alter the existing structure or exterior features. Wooden studs, braces, beams, and cladding boards, in sections consistent with the original timber structure, were proposed. The building’s interior spaces were redesigned according to the new requirements program. Lightweight dividing materials were used for interior partitions.

The slab on which the roof would rest was removed, and the roof was designed as a wooden suspended system. The low and insufficient height of 257 cm was used for living space, along with the inclusion of the attic space on the top floor, creating a rich interior. The facade cladding was handled with a 25 cm section, and the windows were arranged side by side in pairs as guillotine windows starting from a height of 30 cm from the ground as specified in the Restitution project, thus returning to the original facade design.