Maintaining an architectural design practice focused on “situation”, the “place” is the most important element, which in this case is the Maçka-Nişantaşı-Teşvikiye. In the beginning of 20th century, urban movement towards cities resulted a need for high quality urban residences for the urban bourgeoisie. In Nişantaşı-Teşvikiye district, an urban fabric constituted of adjacent buildings up to 7-8 storey high created a modern urban space characterized by density and continuity. This fabric can be conceptualized as a structure that reigns whole district with its architectural quality, created through the principles of proportion and order. Maintaining the architectural quality and enabling the relation of the neighborhood to the hotel, the interior is considered as a continuation of the architecture, as the neighbourhood today, owned by the upper-middle class İstanbul elite, produces urban spaces which are also favored by city habitants of wide social backgrounds.
The building infills its plot sustaining its principles of density and continuity. The mass of the building follows Neo-classical/Renaissance order of base-body-cornice characterising the existing urban fabric. The building adapts itself to daily uses: the base exposes itself to the ground level, accompanying the life on the street creating a metasthasis of retail activity from Abdi İpekçi street to relatively calmer Eytam Street. The rooms are exposed to three different sides circumscribing the plot. The cornice settles on the roof with a set back from the facade completing the articulation of the mass.
The facade articulation of the building is affected by the contrast between Abdi İpekçi and Eytam Streets. Feeling of containment in urban space, constituted by the début-de-siècle buildings holding two sides of Abdi İpekci Street, melts into air when you turn the corner and feel the breeze from Maçka Park. The facade of the hotel facing Maçka Valley is exposed to ‘nature’ and designed to include a lamella folding shutter system to protect itself from the south-east sun while allowing to have a view of the Bosphorus. The Facade displays a changing composition according to the time of day, weather and user preferences. The corner facing south is widely open to Bosphorus view. Balconies surrounding the corner act as a canopy for the storey below, protecting inner facade from the direct sunlight.
The interior of the hotel, in terms of social and urban context, is considered to be a continuation of the structural envelope. The design team explored the period of 1910s-20s extensively to convey the spirit of the era while maintaining the fact that this is a modern contemporary hotel.
