KOCAELİ CONGRESS CENTER | Ozer \ Urger Architects

Most of Turkey's industrial infrastructure is located in Kocaeli and Izmit Bays. However, with the growth of the city in recent years, the factories on the gulf coast remained within the city and moved to other regions due to blocking access to the coast. Today, the areas abandoned by the factories offer opportunities to overcome the lack of public space that arises with the increase in the urban population. With the SEKA park stage 1 projects in 2007 and the SEKA park Stage 2 projects in 2009, the process of transforming industrial areas into public spaces started and the coast was opened to the public.

The former Mannesman Pipe Factory, where we are carrying out the revitalization project, was built in 1955 and is now abandoned after many years of operation. The factory allows a narrow passage at the junction of SEKA park stages 1 and 2. This narrow passage provides a physical link between the parks but separates them from each other as well, in terms of use .This can be easily traced by looking at the hills designed at the border of the factory which blocks the relation between the areas.

In this framework, the project aims to connect the detached factory with its environment and to meet the need for indoor public space along the coast. The new factory, which will provide a culture and art infrastructure, will also serve as the foyer of open spaces that continue uninterruptedly along the coast.

The old campus consists of 3 separate factory blocks, which were added with new demands arising over the years and built with different construction techniques. Much of the unique details of the original building is lost with interventions at different times. The project preserves the original building by restoring its unique details and offers a visual unity by using the same details in the design of the other buildings added later. Thus, while the building transforms into a cultural structure, it also preserves and develops its place in the city's memory.

The building consists of three blocks. The blocks in the northwest and southwest are A and B blocks, respectively and the C blocks in the northeast. In the years when the factory was built, Güneş Street with a 130 cm wide pavement was built in front of blocks A and C. Today, this narrow pavement is insufficient with the transformation of the factory into a public building. In order to cope with this problem, the last axes of blocks A and C adjacent to the road are demolished, with the exception of the columns, and the narrow pavement is widened in this direction. The columns that are exposed under the blocks are made into a row system with new columns added between the two blocks. This new colonnade, giving clues about the inner courtyard, is designed as an entrance for the visitors coming from the railway direction.

The existing structure and shell of the building is an industrial heritage. The main strategy determined in the design of the entire campus is the preservation and display of this structure. The main goal of the design is to easily see the architectural details and construction techniques of the building during the visits of the guests and to establish the relations of this place with the industrial heritage. For this purpose, the whole structure is designed as an open plan. Programs are placed within the separate shells in discrete units that do not touch each other and the facade. In this way, all spaces flow into each other and an uninterrupted space setup emerges. Mezzanines and bridges connecting the spaces offer viewing angles that make navigating the building more exciting and increase exhibition-viewing opportunities.

The most suitable place for a conference hall of 1500 – 2000 people requested by the employer is Block A. However, due to the high groundwater level, it is not possible to build a basement where the necessary backstage spaces and technical volumes for the conference hall will be located. As a solution to this situation, a basement was designed with a 100 cm excavation in blocks A and C, which are 250 cm below Güneş Street, and the backstage is located in this area. Block B is designed as the foyer of the hall in block A.

The main hall presents a completely different space setup by departing from the design idea that refers to the original function of the building and exhibits its structural elements. The main hall is a space that offers ideal acoustics and visual quality with its floor, wall and ceiling coverings. The visitor entering the main hall from the foyer switches between two different worlds.

The C block has been designed flexibly to enable the building to host different activities. The 2 multi-purpose halls and the foyer combining them are designed to be used separately or together when necessary. All halls are supported by a service band located to the east of the building. The spaces above this service area are designed as incubation rooms.

The visual character of the original brick facade of the Original Building has been determined as the common visual character of all buildings. However, this system section has been reinterpreted according to current specifications, and a new detail has been developed to place the thermal insulation between the brick facades. The transparent façades required by the new public function were integrated into the brick façade by using metal structural elements.

The project proposes a cultural center setup with spaces that can be used on a 24/7 basis. Thus, both the efficiency of use of the building and the duration of use of the SEKA park are increased. The efficiency of both projects will increase, thanks to the use of indoor/outdoor spaces and infrastructures of the congress center and Seka Park together. All spaces in the project are organized as flexible spaces that can fulfill more than one function. The building has been designed with a setup that can transform according to dynamic uses and demands. The courtyard is the key to this flexibility. While the courtyard offers an open space, it also acts as a unifying/separating buffer for the programs of the building.