OFFICE CRUSH - Autoban · 2016. 8. 9. · into a 35 strong tour de force in Istanbul’s designscape. Its sought after seal is all over the city, from boutique hotels, such as Witt

Istanbul, Turkey026

Repurposed Architecture

Text

John Burns

Images

Ayla Hibri

Known for its impeccable design principles, Autoban’s beautiful headquarters keep the home fires burning

OFFICE CRUSH

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Design DirectoryIstanbul, Turkey 029028

Repurposed Architecture املباين املرّممة

The nine-to-five grind and daily schlep to the workplace is a routine most of us love to hate. But not the employees of architectural and interior design firm Autoban in Istanbul, however. Operating from a large, open-plan office in a renovated 19th century building, the space – beautifully designed by Autoban themselves – is at the heart of Meşrutiyet Caddesi, a busy but regal street in the centre of one of Istanbul’s oldest and most attractive quarters, Beyoğlu. Set against the city’s swarming straits, the marble floors and whitewashed walls of Autoban’s HQ offers its employees a daily slice of the domestic serenity the brand’s designs have become synonymous with.

Set up in 2003 by architect Seyhan Özdemir and interior designer Sefer Çağlar, Autoban develops architectural, interior and product design projects – its HQ functioning as the brand’s studio, office, workshop and bureau. From humble beginnings, the last decade has seen the duo grow into a 35 strong tour de force in Istanbul’s designscape. Its sought after seal is all over the city, from boutique hotels, such as Witt Istanbul Hotel, to luxury department stores, like Vakko.

‘We think the office is a total reflection of our design approach and brand. In all of our projects, most of which are set in historical buildings, we always try to reveal the history of the building and make these revelations in layers, exhibiting different periods of the property’s past. What we did with our own office project was exactly the same,’ says Sefer Çağlar.

The duo gutted a handsome, 19th century neoclassical building and fashioned its interior into a contemporary office space, encapsulating Autoban’s signature blend of tradition and innovation. The ornate wooden window frames and eclectic details of the building’s original belle époque façade were left intact; its historical beauty accentuated by the designed simplicity of everything else around it.

The building was originally purpose-built in the 1830s by French Ottoman architect Alexander Vallaury (most noted



‘For us, this openness and transparency signified open-minded people engaging in

all phases of work’

SEYHAN ÖZDEMIR

Architect



for designing the opulent Pera Palace Hotel, located just a stone’s throw away from the Autoban office) as the city’s Union Française, before it suffered from two major fires and years of subsequent neglect. The only other remnant of the building’s former incarnation are three marble plates set into one of the walls, carved in memory of the French Legion.

‘After serving as our base for the first five years, our previous office wasn’t large enough to house the ever-growing team so we started looking for larger options around the area. We were on the hunt for both a building with character and a blank white cube with high ceilings to play with. The old Union Française building had it all, besides offering us 500 square metres to settle in,’ says Çağlar.

Autoban’s first office was located in a typical old apartment building in Istanbul’s Galata quarter; a high-ceilinged space with guillotine windows framing views of the Galata Tower at one end, and the Bosphorus and giant red cranes of the port at the other. ‘Basically,’ says Çağlar ‘it was two apartments, one on top of the other. We started with only one floor and then bought the downstairs flat to make room for our growing staff. The best thing about the [old] office was its location, amidst the local workshops where we took our first designs to be manufactured. We still have very fond memories of the place.’

Once there was no more room to move, the duo signed the lease agreement on the Vallaury property. It was still undergoing rough renovation work at the time – the marble flooring was only part-finished, the walls just bare concrete surfaces – but, in its generous proportions and original features, the duo saw the opportunity to repurpose the building into their perfect headquarters.

‘We wanted to create an ideal working environment for everyone in the team, a pleasurable place where we were going to spend more time than in our individual homes.

Because our previous office was on two floors and divided into rooms, we opted for an open-plan office this time. For us, this openness and transparency signified open-minded people engaging in all phases of work,’ says Seyhan Özdemir.

The blueprints hit the nail on the head, expressing the brand’s ethos to clients and giving its staff a sense of pride and belonging. ‘If you are working in a space which is so familiar to you, then you feel comfortable, peaceful, concentrated and energetic, all of which enable you to work more creatively, and be sensitive about your work. We like the design of our office, and feel the energy inside,’ says Müge Çakır, a project coordinator at Autoban.

The transparency Özdemir speaks of is also concrete, so to speak; the purpose-built glass walls not only serve to partition and structure certain areas but also enable daylight to filter throughout the whole office.

Accoutrements at the headquarters are, of course, a mix of pieces from Autoban’s collections. Oversized versions of modular Reedy bookcases stock the office library, with Bergère and Nest armchairs, Box sofas and King lamps peppered here and there. There are also the works of other designers; the lighting units are by Flos, the executive office chairs are from modernist heavyweight Charles and Ray Eames and the large rosewood tables throughout the office, used as desks and meeting tables, were custom-made.

During the construction process, the electrical infrastructure and cabling was hidden underneath the marble floor. The structural columns, which at first posed a hindrance to the duo’s desire for an uninterrupted space, were soon used to their advantage: ‘Placing storage units in between [the columns] gave us more space to hide the office clutter and more space to play with when designing the rest of the office,’ says Özdemir.



At first glance, these floor-to-ceiling storage units resemble shelves filled with files though they are, in fact, cupboards. Anything that has the potential to cause clutter is stored here – the lowest shelves are reserved for rubbish bins, the least glamorous of all office objects. The kitchen units are also hidden behind walls, as is the lighting system. Such clean design and attention to detail represents the spirit at the core of Autoban’s brand identity.

‘One of the house rules is that everyone has to pick up any material samples that were sent to them, which we display at the welcoming area, after one month. If not picked up, we dispose of them because otherwise the office becomes a warehouse of samples,’ says Çağlar. For all of the importance one might expect a design house to place on aesthetics, though, office culture at Autoban is relaxed and, thanks to the two kitchens and flexible lounge corners, sociable.

‘Everyone in the team is very fond of the location of the office. The area is known for its cafés, restaurants, art galleries and nightlife. They visit the art galleries after work and lunch together in groups in one of the nearby cafés. And even though they have to work late hours most weekdays, we see them meeting with their friends for dinner at one of the nearby restaurants and then coming back to the office to finish the work.’

If you are working in a space which is so familiar to you, then you feel comfortable,

peaceful, concentrated and energetic

MÜGE ÇAKIR

Project coordinator at Autoban











047046


Design Directory

How would you describe what Autoban does to a stranger on the street?Autoban is an Istanbul-based design studio developing architectural and interior projects along with product designs that engage issues of creativity and knowledge, realism and imagination, function and culture.

How did you first meet your co-founder, architect Seyhan Özdemir?We met while we were both studying at the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts. In the 1990s, Turkey was less able to engage in international affairs and we were a rather closed community. The school was where all the creative people from different walks of life, practising in different fields, met. It was like a creative cross-platform, and we were lucky to be at the right place at the right time.

What is Autoban’s signature aesthetic?Basically, our practice focuses on lining off a blank space, and the relation between the interior and the exterior. In doing so we concentrate in progressive design solutions with an experimental

standpoint… from the locally handcrafted iron railings of a restaurant in Madrid to the custom-made wall ceramics depicting a Chinese story in a restaurant located in Hong Kong. For the end design to be part of the culture and social life is very essential for us.

How do you approach the design of a new project?We work very much like film directors. First we create the scenario and then we start designing every single detail accordingly, considering the human factor in it. To create one complete story from head to toe with the power of design is the way we work. Urban life is our main field of practice in all of our projects.

What projects are you currently working on at the moment?One of the ongoing projects is the interiors of the new terminal at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku. The project will be completed in spring. We’re quite excited about it as aviation has always been a field we feel very attached to. Public projects that are in rich in context and large in scale allow you to design in the true sense of the word.

‘We work very much likefilm directors’

SEYHAN ÖZDEMIRCo-founder of Autoban

Q&A

Documents

OFFICE CRUSH - Autoban · 2016. 8. 9. · into a 35 strong tour de force in Istanbul’s designscape. Its sought after seal is all over the city, from boutique hotels, such as Witt