Day 2.
Turkish Contractors Association Building. AVCI Architects + Mesa (Consultancy: Atelier Ten)
We were so incredibly lucky to have the project manager from Mesa to show us around this fantastic building, Mr. Ozan Turhan.
This building is amazing because it has new sustainable ideas equal to only a hand full of other buildings in the world. More specifically, it has something that can only be found in four buildings in the world and one of the other three just happens to be Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia (where i live normally).
This, of course, is a passive air control labyrinth. Thats right, a labyrinth (minus David Bowie). We met Mr. Turhan in the lobby of the building where he described his company and how the venture came about. The conversation was fairly normal until he said, 'ok so now we go down to the labyrinth 10 metres below ground'. We thought maybe he was confusing the word 'basement' with 'labyrinth' but no. He meant Labyrinth.
We went to Gazi University briefly to talk to Urban planners and their students after lunch. They gave us some intel on the situation in Turkey with urban developments and the politics of it all. Basically its screwed. For example, (and i hope i understood this correctly), developers can demolish completely fine, not-even-that-old developments and put up new ones but in the process, they kick all the owners out without them having a say then promise them one of the new apartments but make them pay the difference in price. Like when you trade in an old car for a new one and have to pay the difference, but you have a choice whether to trade in that car. They also told us that the government is pretty much dictatorship masking as democracy, so not fun times.
We went to a construction site in the afternoon for Podium Shopping Centre, constructed by ER-BA Constructions. (There are soooooo many shopping centres in Ankara again, because the developers want money)
We were shown around the site by the construction project architect from Erba Constructions. This was extremely interesting from a construction perspective for me but also to see how different their idea of safety is here. We walked around the site for hours just joking around with our 'tour guides' and asking them questions.
Funniest moment of the day:
When i was standing on a ledge to get the photo below and from behind, Damien- an old friend and also a successful group study participant, gave me a little nudge to scare me. Naturally i was distraught and let out an in-the-moment 'You bastard!', jokingly of course. Only to find out it wasn't Damien at all but one of the project managers. But the moment had passed and he seemed to think it was a great joke so i went with that.
That night we went to a dinner organised by one of our Turkish equivalents that we had met in Tasmania prior to the trip when she was on her NGSE there. She is a civil engineer and invited all her engineering friends so there was a lot of discussion about the difference between our two countries and also a few drinks
Turkish Contractors Association Building. AVCI Architects + Mesa (Consultancy: Atelier Ten)
We were so incredibly lucky to have the project manager from Mesa to show us around this fantastic building, Mr. Ozan Turhan.
This building is amazing because it has new sustainable ideas equal to only a hand full of other buildings in the world. More specifically, it has something that can only be found in four buildings in the world and one of the other three just happens to be Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia (where i live normally).
This, of course, is a passive air control labyrinth. Thats right, a labyrinth (minus David Bowie). We met Mr. Turhan in the lobby of the building where he described his company and how the venture came about. The conversation was fairly normal until he said, 'ok so now we go down to the labyrinth 10 metres below ground'. We thought maybe he was confusing the word 'basement' with 'labyrinth' but no. He meant Labyrinth.
This is a new system where the air from this labyrinth stays a stable temperature because of the thermal mass surrounding it (which has a low conductivity) and the earth surrounding that also, which as a rule of thumb, generally stays a stable temperature compared to outside. This is why you sometimes come across random Scandinavian houses that have plunged themselves into the side of a hill to stay warm.
 |
| The walls are ribbed to create a larger surface area for absorption |
This 'stable air' is then pumped throughout the entire building to combat the variant temperatures outside which, in Ankara, can range from -30 to +40. Snow and blistering heat. The building still needs to be heated or cooled to the desired temperature but to a lesser degree because of a more middle starting point.
This air from the labyrinth is also pumped throughout shiny metal ducting (see real life cut away below) built into the floor slabs themselves to keep the buildings 'layers' a stable temperature and keep everyones toes thermally comfortable. Fun fact: 80% of your 'thermal comfort' comes from radiant temperatures.
So the labyrinth and sophisticated passive air system is definitely the draw card here but with an air system there must always be controls and thats why this building is fully automated to measure the temperature and open windows or pump air more when need be and even measure the brightness of each room and adjust the light. Kind of like an iphone.
This building also has solar panels and a green roof.
We went to Gazi University briefly to talk to Urban planners and their students after lunch. They gave us some intel on the situation in Turkey with urban developments and the politics of it all. Basically its screwed. For example, (and i hope i understood this correctly), developers can demolish completely fine, not-even-that-old developments and put up new ones but in the process, they kick all the owners out without them having a say then promise them one of the new apartments but make them pay the difference in price. Like when you trade in an old car for a new one and have to pay the difference, but you have a choice whether to trade in that car. They also told us that the government is pretty much dictatorship masking as democracy, so not fun times.
We went to a construction site in the afternoon for Podium Shopping Centre, constructed by ER-BA Constructions. (There are soooooo many shopping centres in Ankara again, because the developers want money)
We were shown around the site by the construction project architect from Erba Constructions. This was extremely interesting from a construction perspective for me but also to see how different their idea of safety is here. We walked around the site for hours just joking around with our 'tour guides' and asking them questions.
Funniest moment of the day:
When i was standing on a ledge to get the photo below and from behind, Damien- an old friend and also a successful group study participant, gave me a little nudge to scare me. Naturally i was distraught and let out an in-the-moment 'You bastard!', jokingly of course. Only to find out it wasn't Damien at all but one of the project managers. But the moment had passed and he seemed to think it was a great joke so i went with that.
That night we went to a dinner organised by one of our Turkish equivalents that we had met in Tasmania prior to the trip when she was on her NGSE there. She is a civil engineer and invited all her engineering friends so there was a lot of discussion about the difference between our two countries and also a few drinks
No comments:
Post a Comment