Winner in the category of ‘Interior, Residential’ at Big See Interior Design Award 2019

Finalist in ‘Creative Re-use’ Category at World Architecture Festival INSIDE 2017

Selected to Turkish Architecture Annual 2016

This is the story of the conversion of a regular, standard flat into a photography studio, private house and an art gallery. The apartment is located on a quiet street parallel to a busy boulevard in Alsancak, one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Izmir. The brief was to design the ground floor and the upper floor of this apartment which was part of a five-story housing block on this calm and green street, to be used as a photographic studio. During the design process, together with the client, it was agreed upon that this place could go beyond being just a photographic studio.

Besides meeting the demands of the client who is a well-known photographer in İzmir, who wanted to have a place for his own where he could live and work, the idea of integrating an exhibition area to this space was quickly embraced. While enabling his studio to exhibit and share the photographic work that it produces, this space would also host other photography exhibitions and thus become an alternative art exhibition spot in the city.

While the ground floor was planned to fulfill the necessities of a photographic studio and an exhibition space, the upper floor was designed to have the office space, kitchen area, sleeping, and private resting zones.

However, one of the important targets of the project was to maximize the creative space for the photographic studio, therefore in the design process, the upper floor and mezzanine are planned to serve as spaces for photo shooting if wanted. In this way, the project turned into a ‘loft’ space were working, living & exhibiting functions intertwined with each other under the roof of a photographic studio.

Answers were sought to questions such as how could space which was constructed and used initially as a typical, standard apartment could transform into a multifunctional area where different functions and forms of living can go along together; how could permeability within these functions be established and how could the flow of life and space be in such a place.

The project got the chance to open more to the public thanks to the exhibition space that it had gained. Integration with the wide sidewalk in front of the apartment was essential. The surrounding space around the apartment until the street was decided to be included in the design. Sidewalk level and the material was to continue until the inner space.

The sliding folding glass doors forming the facade could open completely by being collected on the sides and thus would contribute to the fusion of the inner space with the urban space on an exhibition event. Street flowing into the inner space and vice versa would enable a potential exhibition visitor passing by there to have a look into the exhibition without a filter. This wide sidewalk that belongs to the city and the apartment could become a social area and platform on an exhibition opening night where people could communicate with the comfort of being on the street rather than in an enclosed gallery space.

As a result of a cozy, fun, wise layout, set up, and the transformation was aimed which would balance well the separation and incorporation of the abovementioned functions and be open to the public and be private to the necessary extent while contributing to the surrounding built environment.

This is the front view of the house with large glass walls that glow warmly from the interior lights. The front is landscaped with gorgeous shrubs and a decorative medium-sized tree.

A closer look at the glass walls show that a portion of it folds to open the entire wall and give it a much more welcoming vibe.

This lovely foyer has a tall wooden ceiling with recessed lights that complement the beige walls contrasted by the gray structures of the second level.

This is a closer look at the gray modern floating staircase with a handle embedded into the wall beside it.

Across from the staircase are gray walls with an art gallery aesthetic to it. It has lighting at its edges on the top and bottom making it appear like a floating structure.

This is the charming office with a large glass-top desk paired with a swivel chair. The highlight of this home office is the large black chalkboard wall behind the chair.

This is the indoor balcony and catwalk of the second level with a long wall filled with built-in bookshelves and a simple set of railings for safety.

This is a view of the small living room area from the vantage of the indoor balcony. You can also see the work area at the floor below from this vantage.

A close look at the living room shows that it has a couple of armchairs facing a modern fireplace embedded into the white wall beside the glass walls.

Next to the living room is this charming kitchen with a large kitchen island in the middle with a wooden countertop that extends to a built-in table.

This large wooden countertop of the kicthen houses the modern glass-top stove and the sink topped with a white ceiling with modern lighting.

The large glass wall of the kitchen can open up to a long and narrow outdoor area with a miniature garden dominating the wall.

This view of the kitchen island shows the modern stove is topped with a sleek stainless steel vent connected to the white ceiling.

This is a gorgeous and spacious media room with a large mounted TV across from the light gray sofa. This is adorned with a unique wall on the far end.

A closer look at the unique wall that adorns the sofa reveals that it is actually made of walnut shells inside a steel screen with lighting on its edges.

On the opposite of this walnut wall is a work area that has a long wooden desk that matches the hardwood flooring adorned with a large glass wall.

The small bathroom is augmented by the mirror wall to make it appear bigger than it actually is. This has gray walls that blend with the cove ceiling that makes the white porcelain sink and toilet stand out.

This other bathroom has a modern white floating vanity separated with glass walls from the toilet area and the shower area that has a gray floor.

Credits
Design Office: Yerce Architecture & ZAAS
Project Location: Izmir / Turkey
Project Type: Home Office / Photography Studio / Art Gallery
Client: EEY
Program: Mixed-use & Creative Reuse
Size: 250 m2
Status: Built
Team: Nail Egemen Yerce, Ayça Taylan, Zeynep Şankaynağı
Photography: Yerce Art Photography – Emin Emrah Yerce
Video: Memduh Can Tanyeli