MERSIN METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY COMPLEX

The city of Mersin lies in the southern coast of Turkey alongside the Mediterranean. Mersin Municipality Administrative Office Buildings are on the eastern part of the city center, between the port and the low rise housing area, on a 90 000 m2 plot. the main motivation that shapes the decision making process for the project is to break away from the enclosed and introverted public building typology and to turn the municipality building into an inviting area for the residents who have been longing for such a place. The highly rich programme consisting of municipality administrative offices and the service buildings have been divided into 17 low rise buildings that are grouped according to their functions.

The ground floor that the buildings are placed on houses a series of shops that can be regarded as a ‘bazaar’, a food court, arts & cultural areas and sports facilities enabling people to use the premises day and night. The order of the buildings above ground was maintained with a modular load bearing system by a basic idea of lining the core and the office spaces around a gallery. The gallery provides natural ventilation and maximizes daylight for the office spaces and the buildings have been enriched by open spaces, gardens and terraces. The blocks form building groups that are linked to each other through bridges.The parking lot below ground level has been designed to benefit from daylight and to naturally ventilate the area by the help of the designed sunken garden areas and the existing topography. The cluster of buildings have been covered with a large canopy to eliminate the effects of the Mersin sun. As a result of slits on the canopy, natural light reaches the bazaar and the parking lot, also because of the skylight, daylight reaches the depth of the office spaces.