Ankara, Turkey
A series of courtyards reference the rich architectural tradition of Turkey, encourage the practice of diplomacy, creation of community, and inspire intellectual exchange.
United States Embassy in Ankara won an 2025 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
Designed as a series of courtyards that rise up the steeply sloped site, the site plan creates a formal organizational structure for the circulation of visitors and staff across the campus. The Main Arrival Court is generously landscaped with trees and lush plantings restoring green space to the urban streetscape.
Upon passing through the entry pavilions, visitors follow the visual and physical path that weaves through the gardens towards the chancery, a singular architectural structure with a series of internal courtyards. The courtyard provides secure, private outdoor spaces for the embassy community to gather.
The building design offers a strong presence for the new U.S. Embassy that balances transparency and openness with security. A monumental lobby highlights rich material tradition of Turkey including local Marmara marble, various travertines, native woods and local ceramics. The space was also designed to highlight the Art in Embassy program which offers an artist an opportunity to create a site-specific art piece for the Diplomatic community and their visitors.
The main courtyard is the center around which community and shared programs are located. It is landscaped with native plantings and designed as several gathering spaces within the whole, larger ones for formal gatherings and smaller gardens for casual repose. The courtyard features an ultra-high-performance concrete screen based on traditional Turkish precedents.
The Chancery façade is built with local stone connecting the Embassy to its local context. The stone is also designed to create screens that provide the security and privacy an embassy requires while simultaneously providing solar control, daylight, and views to the city beyond.
The United States Embassy, Ankara was a collaboration between Ennead Architects, Design Architect, Cristian Ostertag, Supervising Architect, and Cristian Sanhueza, Coordinating Architect.
Architects: Ennead Architects
Design Team: Richard Olcott, Felicia Berger, Kevin McClurkan, Kate Mann, Christopher Halloran, Stefan Abel, Kristen Alexander, Peter Broughton, Kori Camacho-Onal, Edward Chang, Magdalena Checo, Darla Elsbernd, Erkan Emre, Dalia Hamati, Wanlika Kaewkamchand, and Janice Leo
Landscape Architects: GGN Landscape Architecture
General Contractor: BL Harbert International
Client: The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations
Photographers: Scott Frances
