Metro M1 Meydan Shopping Center

FOA & MAM & ETÜD MİMARLIK INŞAAT SAN. VE TİC. LTD. ŞTİ.

METRO M1 MEYDAN PROJECT — GENERAL INFORMATION

Etüd Mimarlık Inşaat San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti. was founded in 2003 by architect Can Özsavaşcı, M.Arch. The practice focuses on integrating the realities of construction with the design process and continues its work with an experienced team. The following information introduces the Metro M1 Meydan Shopping Centre, for which the practice carried out design and construction-stage work in coordination with FOA in England and MAM's architectural office in Germany.

M1 MEYDAN SHOPPING CENTRE

M1 Meydan, Metro Group Asset Management's (MAM) latest shopping centre project to open in 2007, is Istanbul's first shopping centre based on the concept of a city square. Located where Ümraniye's Çakmak neighbourhood meets the Çekmeköy–Şile road junction, M1 Meydan is close to all major road connections, particularly the second Bosphorus bridge, making it easily accessible from across Istanbul. The project was planned as a place where people of different income levels living in Ümraniye–Çekmeköy, one of Istanbul's fastest-growing and changing districts, could meet in a human-scale square amid a green landscape. With themed shops arranged around a large square, M1 Meydan aims to become an outdoor activity centre based on the idea of a city square that develops with its surroundings. M1 Meydan Shopping Centre will represent in Istanbul the new generation of lifestyle centres increasingly seen around the world.

M1 Meydan, Metro Group's most ambitious project worldwide to date, was built on a 128,000-square-metre site including IKEA. It provides 70,000 square metres of lettable space, 50 shops, a ten-screen cinema complex and parking for 3,000 vehicles. Its 14,500 square metres of shopping area give M1 Meydan the capacity to meet the district's potential demand.

A DISTINCTIVE PROJECT: A MODERN CITY SQUARE THAT GROWS WITH ITS SURROUNDINGS

In March 2005, METRO Group Asset Management invited five internationally active architectural practices to Istanbul to determine the architectural design. Architects from Tabanlıoğlu Mimarlık, Chapman Taylor HQ, BRT–Bothe Richter-Teheroni Architekten BDA, JSK Architekten and FOA developed proposals during a three-day workshop. The teams based their proposals on the initial concept developed by METRO Group Asset Management's architects. On the fourth day, all teams took part in reviewing the concepts and designs. Unlike the other invited practices, England's Foreign Office Architects (FOA) had no experience of conventional retail architecture. Nevertheless, its original concept and design were chosen as the best by both the investor and the competing architectural practices.

FOA co-founder Alejandro Zaera-Polo describes the practice's approach to starting a project as ‘wanting our buildings to grow by themselves’. Emphasising identity as the central issue in Meydan's design, he explains the design process and its outcome:

‘You can find a different element in every culture and geography… In a way, it is like observing people's cooking habits. You see different ways of cooking in different countries, and all this is knowledge waiting to be discovered that can take even architecture to extraordinary places. We bring out these differences… We are not architects producing imaginary projects. We work with complex programmes, so the client is a very important factor in our work. Our aim is to translate the client's interests into the most interesting buildings possible. At FOA, we have developed an approach that does not imitate existing typologies, but improves the fit between new typologies and the required programmes. Looking at the plans for the Ümraniye Shopping Centre, for example, we may not see a typical shopping centre. There is parking below and people gather in a square. Yet certain parameters, such as shop sizes and the column grid, cannot be changed…’ *4

‘…Our architecture incorporates all criteria, including topography, materials and circulation patterns. Although we no longer emphasise topography as strongly as we did during the Yokohama project, I cannot deny its influence. I would even say it was decisive for Ümraniye Shopping Centre. The differences in level made it possible to walk on the roof. Entering from the main road at the higher level, you can walk over the roof and reach the square. The entire roof is also planted, with rooflights providing natural ventilation. There are many such distinctive aspects. Construction is, of course, quite expensive, but there are considerable advantages. The green cover intercepts sunlight falling on this very large roof and helps cool the shopping centre. Its environmental impact is also better because it is green and quiet. We chose brick for both the square's paving and the façades, continuing on the façades the earth colour perceived through the changes in level. At ground level, transparent corridors separate the building from the ground. The perforated material on the shopping centre's façade also allows air inside. Green and earth tones dominate the project… Sustainability is one of our key concerns. In conventional shopping centres, the sun produces considerable heat and carbon monoxide accumulates inside, requiring large amounts of energy to regulate conditions. When Ümraniye Shopping Centre starts operating, you will see that it obtains all its energy simply by using underground heat. Applying architecture with these concerns in mind is important. This is how you must convince the client: “You may be spending more on your investment, but this expenditure will allow the project to operate at very little cost.”’ *4

In contrast to the clinker used throughout the paving and in parts of the façades, the shop and common-area façades were designed in transparent glass. Balustrades and landscape elements, predominantly in stainless steel and timber, complete the concept. General lighting in the square uses two types of posts, inclined and upright. Linear lighting beneath benches, local lighting on shop façades and rooflights, and ground-level point lighting along the side facing IKEA define different areas and pedestrian routes. Coloured lighting is also used in the cinema section and water feature. Ramps directly connect the efficiently arranged car park and the square. Clinker paving continues from the square down to the car park floor. Car park walls feature distinctive wayfinding signs and abstract graphics applied with stencils. Perforated clinker on the car park façades assists air circulation. The horizontal continuity of clinker paving, transparent façades, aluminium canopy and green roof is interrupted by the cinema block. This block rises in a different geometry and is distinguished by its clinker façades, making the centre recognisable from a distance. With auditoria at different levels, foyers and social spaces, it is designed for intensive use. Perforated clinker surfaces on the cinema façade permit air circulation between interior and exterior. Windows in two auditoria admit textured light through the clinker façade and close automatically during film screenings.

By making use of changes in level, Meydan appears to sit beneath a green hill. It was designed as a meeting place for concerts, fairs, exhibitions and live performances, as well as a wide variety of entertainment, sport, cultural and artistic activities.

The geothermal system makes M1 Meydan one of Europe's leading examples. This intelligent system uses the natural resource of ground heat to heat and cool the 70,000-square-metre shopping square. The installation in Ümraniye is one of Europe's largest geothermal systems used to condition a commercial property. It saves 1.3 million kilowatt-hours of primary energy per year. Ground heat offers several advantages over other energy alternatives. It is more secure, available at any time of day or year and produces no environmentally harmful emissions. Annual CO savings of 350 tonnes were calculated for the system.

Geothermal systems use the earth's heat for heating or, where temperatures are suitable, for electricity generation. Apart from near-surface sources, this is the only form of energy among almost all other renewables that does not originate from solar radiation. Geothermal energy comes entirely from heat generated by the decay of radioactive isotopes within the earth.

To use ground heat, it must first be brought to the surface. Specialists drilled 228 boreholes in Ümraniye. At depths of 70 to 150 metres, U-shaped pipes act as heat exchangers. At this level, the temperature remains approximately 17°C throughout the year. Nineteen kilometres of pipe are available for heat transfer. Other pipes carry the ground heat to combined heat pumps and cooling units serving users. The borehole fields provide approximately 1,000 kilowatts for heating and 1,300 kilowatts for cooling.

The system also acts as a very large heat reservoir. Heat from the ventilation system's cooling generators in summer is required for heating in winter. The shopping square's cooling demand is considerably greater than its heating demand. Two additional cooling towers with a combined capacity of 2,500 kilowatts were therefore installed. When required, these towers will maintain comfortable indoor conditions in the square's 50 shops even during high summer temperatures.

The system offers numerous advantages in energy efficiency, initial cost in relation to resource use, independent heating and cooling, and comfort. At M1 Meydan, free thermal energy is used as efficiently as possible. Only two-thirds of the energy required is paid for, with the remainder supplied by the ground. Since it produces no carbon dioxide waste, the system is described as economical, trouble-free and 100 per cent environmentally friendly. Its efficient operation repays the additional initial investment compared with conventional heating and cooling systems within three to six years. The ground-source heat pump system, being implemented at this scale in Turkey for the first time at M1 Meydan Shopping Centre, costs €1 million excluding equipment.

Meydan was designed as a building that would not generate waste. Rubbish will be separated and handled through a recycling system. Waste from the shops is removed using modern recycling systems. The enclosed car park's exhaust system uses ductless jet fans to avoid visual clutter at basement ceiling level. Fresh air is drawn in from the open section and discharged through three designated exhaust shafts.