Front view of a long timber-framed building with louvred bays, hanging plants and an open grid roof, raised over a covered walkway, with flowering fields and people walking, cycling and taking photos in front and two residential towers behind under a blue sky

Competition Project

S-Hub

Izmir Sustainability Center

Year: July 2023
Classification: Competition Project
Status: Competition entry
Location: Izmir, Türkiye
Team: Studio Evren Başbuğ Architects (opens in a new tab)
Organizer: Izmir Metropolitan Municipality

SHEAFS Diagram

Setting aside the question of whether it really existed, Noah's Ark could be called the first sustainability center in history. As far as we know, considering the motivation behind its making, its production and management processes, its physical properties and the function it served, the ark can be described as a prevention and disaster management mechanism developed against a threat to life on earth (in this case, a flood sent by God). Although it cannot be said to have eliminated the source of the problem, beyond the emergency management it provided, it undeniably created a broader awareness of that source when we look at the bigger picture.

Given parameters such as the efficient and effective use of limited natural resources, the ecological diversity it held, resilience and preparedness for disaster, and social solidarity, Noah's Ark (if we assume it was real) did a remarkably good job for its moment in history.

Today we live in a very different world in many respects. Yet there is a critical situation we can draw a parallel with. The world is no longer a place where disasters come once in a thousand years. We are in a constant state of crisis, constantly trying to cope with disasters. This is why today we need hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Noah's Arks. Every city, every small community, even every individual needs methods and processes to confront crisis scenarios that are similar in some ways and very different in others.

For these and similar reasons, more resources than ever must be devoted to mechanisms like the Izmir Sustainability Center, whose critical role may not be immediately embraced or understood by the city's residents, but which will fulfil its public function in the long term.

Diagrams

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Labelled axonometric of the site with the timber-framed building and its permaculture open laboratories on the roof, an open amphitheatre, city gardens, a bridge over the road, rain gardens, an endemic plant pool, a marine amphitheatre, square and steps, and a watch tower on the pier. — 01The site: city gardens, rain gardens, marine square and steps, and the watch tower on the pier.

Cut-away axonometric of an upper floor highlighted in blue, with open-plan offices, meeting rooms and lounges around a central core. — 02Office and meeting floor.

Exploded axonometric of two floors highlighted in blue, with library shelves, reading tables and study areas linked by dashed lines. — 03Library and study floors.

Axonometric of a corridor highlighted in blue behind stone walls, with laboratories holding robotic arms and 3D printers, workstations and a meeting room. — 04Research laboratories behind the stone walls.

Axonometric of a ground-floor workshop highlighted in blue, with people building furniture from pallets and pergolas outside along the street. — 05The making workshop opening onto the street.

Axonometric of the timber-frame watch tower on the pier with a blue sphere and viewing platforms, rocks along the shore and kayakers on the sea. — 06The watch tower on the pier.

Axonometric of the roof highlighted in blue, with people tending rows of plants, seedling trays and paths in the permaculture laboratory. — 07The permaculture laboratory on the roof.

Materials

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Exploded detail of the timber wall and floor build-up, from CLT panel, timber frame, geotextile barrier, OSB, mycelium insulation, air gap and marine plywood to cork flooring, fixed with a galvanised steel anchor and M20 bolt to a reinforced concrete beam faced with Bergama grey granite rubble stone. — 01Wall and floor detail: CLT, mycelium insulation, cork and marine plywood on a stone-faced concrete base.

Exploded axonometric of the building split into three layers, 60 percent timber, 20 percent stone and 20 percent concrete, with a legend of marine plywood, CLT panels, cork flooring, mycelium insulation, OSB panel, glulam timber, Bergama grey granite rubble stone and reinforced concrete. — 02Material breakdown: 60% timber, 20% stone, 20% concrete.

Plans & Sections

Drawing sheet with the -1, ground, mezzanine and first to fifth floor plans of the building, the ground floor plan extending to the gardens, pier and watch tower, and sections B, C and D through the building and car park. — 01Floor plans from -1 to the fifth floor, the ground floor site plan, and sections B, C and D.

Visualisations

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Aerial view of the Izmir waterfront with the timber-framed building beside residential towers, planted fields and gardens leading to the shore, a running track along the sea and the watch tower on the pier. — 01The center on the Izmir waterfront.

Close view of the timber grid facade with planted balconies and an open corner frame, a raised walkway along the base and a jacaranda tree and lavender in front. — 02The timber facade and the raised walkway.

Front view of the long timber-framed building over a covered walkway, with flowering fields and people in front and two residential towers behind. — 03The building seen across the flowering fields.

Bird's-eye view looking down on the timber frame, the bridge crossing the walkway and the planted city gardens beside it. — 04The bridge and city gardens from above.

People tending raised beds of wheat and strawberries in front of the building, with the raised walkway and stone base behind. — 05City gardens in front of the building.

The open ground floor under the timber frame, with vertical planters, crates of produce and people shopping at a market. — 06The produce market on the ground floor.

View from the sea of the building, the walkway leading to the pier, a small historic house, marine steps and the timber watch tower by the water. — 07The marine steps and the watch tower from the sea.

The end of the building beside the walkway and a stepped seating edge along the water, where a man rows a boat and people sit in the sun. — 08The water's edge at the end of the building.

The glazed café at the base of the timber frame, with pendant globe lights, rattan seating outside and a hand holding a phone showing a sustainability app. — 09The café at the base of the building.

Interior of the double-height café with clusters of globe pendant lights, looking out through tall glazing to the square, the sea and the watch tower. — 10Inside the café, looking towards the sea.

The open core of the timber frame seen from the bridge, with stepped seating inside, floors stacked above and people walking in. — 11The open core of the building from the bridge.

Stepped timber seating in the atrium where people sit and talk, next to an open terrace overlooking the gardens and the walkway. — 12The stepped atrium and the garden terrace.