Buyukcekmece Kumburgaz Sports Complex | Ozer \ Urger Architects

The project designed for Buyukcekmece Municipality's Kumburgaz district is as a small-scale sports complex serving the neighbourhood in an 11.000m2 site. The land lies at the transition point between the green area to the north and west and the residential areas to the south and east. Ozer \ Urger Architects’ efforts to bring different public usages together has been a starting point for this project as it was in recent years’ projects.

The sloping site allows to squeeze only a FIFA standard-sized football field of 90m in length and has a 15m level difference between the two short sides. The green area in the north and west of the area behind the goal net meet with the field and the tribune to increase the use of public space in different ways. Thanks to the slope in the field, it was also possible to diversify public use by squeezing a basketball court containing cafes, gymnasiums and classrooms under the football field and adding a few different functions to the program. A 112-car parking lot with a direct pedestrian access was also included into the program.

On the short East side of the site, a small square was created to meet the people coming to the basketball and gymnasium halls. This square acts as a skateboarding and meeting area for young local people and it also serves as an appealing threshold between the sports facility and the neighbourhood. Thanks to the amphitheatre and tribune, people may watch the games in the field while the neighbourhood community is invited to contribute to sports activities by means of the square and the cafe on the ground floor.

The café close to the entrance works as a foyer of the whole complex and since it is attached to the car park it also welcomes people coming with their cars. In addition to café, the ground floor also includes the technical and service spaces of the basketball court, the changing rooms and the offices. Football spectator’ access is provided by the open pedestrian corridor to the south, extending from the square to the tribunes.

Narrow vertical elements were used as a decisive character while creating the architectural language of the complex. These openings were expanded to emphasize the door at the entrance of the foyer, while thin and long openings of the basketball field let daylight in. Vertical reflective metal elements arranged at frequent intervals are placed on the two sides of the football field that are in relation with the neighbourhood. These elements form the character of the complex and create an illusion of a transparent screen, helping to merge the scale of the sports facility with the nearby urban texture.