Antalya Branch of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey is intended to be a building gaining its architectural strength from contextual and programmatic tension. The site is located at a node where the urban texture of Antalya is loosened, thanks to a green strip that runs from the northern edge of Akdeniz University towards Western Taurus Mountain Range. Low rise building stock to the background and fast paced traffic in front in Hürriyet Street renders imbalance between the scales of place and user.
In light of these facts, the building is proposed to create a micro urban texture within itself. Due to the ambiguous spatial definition of its environs and lack of reference to human scale, TCMB Antalya branch is an attempt to ease the transition of urban flows into an architectural setting. Higher security spaces are placed towards the eastern site of the structure, to enable indirect access from a side street. Perimeter walls starting from the security gate are followed up to the most prominent element of the building: the recessed entrance porch. The porch has strong directionality from the street through the seamless continuation of horizontal hard landscape from sidewalk into its vertical recessed southern façade. This volume creates the much needed spatial definition to its surroundings, and through its robust appearance, supports the image that the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey is the premier focus in the nation’s economy and a safe haven for everyone.
