Irme Elektrik Headquarters | XL Architecture+Engineering

Irme Elektrik Company is a market leader company in Turkey, being exclusive representative of General Electric, Osram and Panasonic. The company required an headquarter building which will occupy a showroom, a sales area, warehouse spaces, offices, recreational and educational areas for personnel and a private area for the owner of the company.

XL Architecture+Engineering was commissioned by Irme Elektrik Company firstly to fulfill the needs of the program but primarily to design an artifact that will inspire the inhabitants of the citizens of Izmir.

XL Architecture+Engineering proposed a triple mechanism design strategy that also characterizes XL conception of architectural design. Architectural meaning is subjected to latency: In this case, the envelope which is composed of porcelain tiles in the colors of General Electric, Osram and Panasonic are intertwined so as to define new relations within their surroundings and themselves.

Within a quadruple mechanism of composition: “Participation” enables to design zones of collective experience, “Transform” enables to design spaces shifting their meanings and interrelations throughout time, “Liberate” enables to design spaces dissolving their visual and perceptual boundaries and “Unfold” enables to design spaces defining their surroundings – the street, the city.

A design strategy called as “Box Strategy” proposes new and creative ways of using, producing, operating and consuming spaces. In this case, the extensions on the rear facade, backyard and the additional roof are perceived as the illusional unfoldings of the monolithic main building.