Aerial view of a visitor centre among apartment blocks in Bayraklı, with two low buildings under broad brown roofs framing a paved plaza and a round glazed greenhouse with a domed roof at its centre

Academic Project

V-Farm

Visitor Centre

Year: June 2023
Classification: Academic Project
Status: Undergraduate 3rd-year, 2nd-semester studio project
Location: Bayraklı, Izmir, Türkiye
Team: Gökalp Kalfa
Zehra Çelik (opens in a new tab)
Consultants: TutorArzu Cilasun Kunduracı (opens in a new tab)Başak Kundakçı Koyunbaba (opens in a new tab)

Our project is to create a visitor center that focuses on the important role of agriculture in the history of Smyrna, located adjacent to the ancient city. It offers an experiential route for visitors, starting with the history of Smyrna and continuing with an exhibition on agriculture, innovative farming methods, and requirements, ending in a greenhouse with a restaurant below. The three main components of the project are the visitor center, research and development center and greenhouse. Additionally, the project tackles the problem of limited urban green space allowing people to reconnect with nature within city limits.

Massing

01 / 06

Axonometric of the site among surrounding blocks with a solar radiation heat map from yellow to red and white points marking the most exposed spots. — 01Step 1: the site was analysed for north direction, solar radiation and other conditions.

The site in green with the outlines of two rectangular masses and a circle placed on it. — 02Step 2: masses were placed according to the analysis.

Two rectangular blocks and a cylinder extruded upwards on the site, with arrows showing them rising. — 03Step 3: all volumes were raised so that the vertical farm stands highest as the focus.

The two blocks curved towards the cylinder, with arrows pulling their edges inward and outward. — 04Step 4: curves were added to the research center and exhibition center, focusing on vertical farming.

The right block pulled in and its roof sloped down, with arrows showing the push and the slope. — 05Step 5: the mass was pulled in to mark the entrance, and the roof sloped to shape the exhibition route.

Bridges linking the blocks, with arrows rising from the new connections between the volumes. — 06Step 6: bridges were added between the separated functions.

Diagrams

01 / 05

Axonometric of the visitor centre with the domed vertical farm at its centre, linked by dotted lines to circular vignettes of the courtyard, library, labs, offices, exhibition, lobby and reception, rooms, green wall and planted facade, vertical farm and restaurant. — 01The spaces of the centre: library, labs, offices, exhibition, rooms, vertical farm and restaurant.

Exploded axonometric of the basement car park, ground and first floors and roof, colour-coded for the experience route, cores, lecture halls, library, exhibition, labs, market, offices and accommodation. — 02The floors exploded, with the experience route spiralling around the vertical farm.

Programme diagram titled A New Perspective on Agriculture and History of the City, branching into activities such as learning the history of Izmir and experiencing new ways of farming, and functions from library and market to research labs and vertical farms, with icons and illustrations. — 03Activities and functions around agriculture and the history of the city.

Environmental section through the building with sun rays, warm air rising through an open courtyard and atrium, and callouts for solar panels, facade planting with pomegranate trees, an openable sun shader open in winter, and green areas with olive trees. — 04Environmental section: solar panels, facade planting, an openable sun shader and the open courtyard.

Section through the green wall on the facade, with arrows showing thermal comfort, new habitats, noise absorption and improved air quality as it takes in CO2 and gives out oxygen. — 05The green wall: thermal comfort, new habitats, noise absorption and cleaner air.

Plans & Sections

01 / 07

Ground floor plan at 1:200 with the library, labs, lecture hall and lobby in the left wing, the round restaurant under the vertical farm at the centre, the lobby and exhibition in the right wing, and the +3.60 mezzanine floor drawn beside it. — 01Ground floor plan, 1:200, with the +3.60 mezzanine.

First floor plan at 1:200 with accommodation rooms, offices and labs in the left wing, bridges curving around the round vertical farm, and the farm exhibition in the right wing. — 02First floor plan, 1:200.

Section 1 through the left wing with the car park below, and the domed vertical farm in the middle. — 03Section 1.

Section 2 through the left wing, showing the basement car park, two floors above and the dome behind. — 04Section 2.

Section 3 through the right wing with its sloping roof, the dome behind, and the three-storey block with the car park below. — 05Section 3.

Section 4 through the domed vertical farm and the sloping exhibition floor beside it. — 06Section 4.

Wall section from the sloping space frame roof with recycled rubber covering, through the light-frame timber wall with wood cladding and the CLT floor with ceramic tile, down to the reinforced concrete basement slab on gravel, with layer callouts. — 07Wall section: space frame roof, light-frame timber wall, CLT floor and concrete basement.

Visualisations

01 / 04

The round vertical farm with a timber lattice and glazed dome above a green wall base, with restaurant tables and timber trellises with climbing plants on a stone plaza, and a bridge leading to the next building. — 01The vertical farm, with the restaurant and trellis garden at its base.

Inside the domed vertical farm, with timber arches overhead, tall shelving towers and round tiers full of plants, and farmers tending them from ladders and a circular walkway. — 02Inside the vertical farm under the timber dome.

Timber-lined exhibition hall with ancient marble sculptures from Smyrna in glass cases, visitors looking at them, and a wide opening to the stepped plaza outside. — 03The history exhibition, with finds from ancient Smyrna.

The research and development centre with a planted timber frame facade, a green wall carrying its name, glazing under a curved roof edge, and a restaurant terrace with flowering planters. — 04The research and development centre with its green wall and planted facade.