Süngü Apartments is a 24-unit residential building located in Cihangir a very live neighborhood near city center Istanbul. It is a conversion project from a 1970’s office block into rental living units minimal in size but with all the facilities the modern urban life requires. As a result of the former converted nature of the blocks the office units consisted of many dark rooms and spaces. The first design idea that was applied to the project was to open all the new spaces to light. Since the block is a relatively large, footprint row house (approximately 450m²/ each floor), and with only two facades, all new walls of the four units located on each floor were arranged unidirectionally and perpendicular to the facades, so that every living space in the block could use the natural lighting. One of the main features of the Sungu Apartments project is the architectural arrangement of the street facade. The strip-windows unifies the facade characteristic and provide maximum use of daylight while the sliding-folding wooden shutters which were constructed unusually with horizontal louvers provide privacy from the relatively narrow street without blocking much light since its a due north facade. The artistic ironwork that covers the facade of the lower two floors provide security while forming a base for the building at the same time. Since this kind of city center residential developments is quite new to Istanbul, It would not be exaggerated to say that Sungu Apartments set some new social living standards; and with its architectural qualities it already become a landmark in the area.

Design Team: Cem Yücel Project Team: Elif Kılıç, Aslı Can Structural Engineer: Galata Yapı Photography: Galata A.S.