At the rear of Haydarpaşa railway station in Istanbul, Turkey, five new buildings have been constructed on the foundations of former existing structures that were no longer usable due to temporary construction methods and considerable damage. The new buildings deliberately follow the footprints of the historic buildings, thus preserving the spatial memory of the site. This approach is influenced by the immediate proximity to an important archaeological site and the historical context of the ancient Chalcedon River and harbour.
At the same time, the ensemble enters into an urban dialogue with the adjacent Yeldeğirmeni district along Orgeneral Şahap Gürler Street. The buildings are part of the ‘Haydarpaşa Station Culture and Arts’ project and, after temporary use as offices for TCDD, will be converted into publicly accessible art galleries.
As it was not possible to renovate the former structures, new steel buildings were erected within the preserved building contours. The modular design allows for the combination of different volumes, materials and façade depths, tailored to daylight and space requirements. The façades combine brick, textured plaster, Corten steel, titanium zinc, lacquered expanded metal and profiled glass.
LINIT©EcoGlass is an essential element of the façade design. As vertically arranged U-glass panels, it allows for uniform, glare-free daylighting while providing visual screening. Its translucency creates a subtle connection between the interior and exterior spaces and gives the façades a changing, atmospheric effect depending on the incidence of light – particularly suitable for their later use as exhibition spaces.
