Istanbul, Turkiye
Designed by Gökhan Avcıoğlu and GAD, the Polat Levent Exclusive is a 14-story luxury residential and mixed-use project located in the vibrant Levent district of Istanbul, Turkey.
The team wants to create a new architectural and natural icon in the heart of Istanbul as well as a landmark of Istanbul’s architectural evolution.
Situated in Levent, a vibrant urban center, this sustainable project harmoniously melds historical context with modern innovation.
From a remote, forested area, Levent has evolved into a bustling metropolitan hub, with the Polat Levent Exclusive marking a significant milestone in this transformation.
The collaboration between GAD and Polat Gayrimenkul symbolizes architectural progress, catering to Istanbul’s diverse and growing needs while respecting its rich historical and environmental heritage.
For all of the above, the Polat Levent Exclusive has been awarded a 2024 Green Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Levent has witnessed numerous transformations, mirroring Istanbul’s rapid growth into a leading global metropolis.
In the 1970s, Levent hosted industrial and factory buildings along Büyükdere Avenue, which evolved into business centers in the 1980s.
The 1990s saw the emergence of shopping centers and office buildings, marking a continual pace of change. Despite these developments, Levent retained its residential character.
While Büyükdere Avenue became a bustling urban hub, the residential districts on either side preserved their neighborhood essence.
GAD’s Polat Exclusive Levent Project was designed to meet these evolving area needs. The architecture offers solutions for long-term residents and newcomers alike, balancing access to office and commercial zones with a modern, local character.
The Polat Levent Exclusive combines unique architecture, infrastructure and technical solutions with diverse residential floor plans, spacious balconies, and access to water and greenery.
This architectural blend provides a sanctuary from urban hustle while maintaining a central city presence, adding a breath of natural air to one of Istanbul’s most prestigious neighborhoods.
The design process by GAD for Polat Levent Exclusive employed a biophilic perspective and parametric architecture analysis in the concept phase, considering the client brief, context, and program.
Key design parameters like building footprint, floor heights, and residential apartment requirements were parametrically analyzed to generate concept designs. Subsequent stages refined building massing, layout, and floor plans, integrating planning, ecology, climate comfort, and ergonomic considerations.
Design studies, including those for sunlight, wind, and occupancy-vacancy ratios, were optimized using programmed prediction simulations.
This process initially produced seven distinct models, narrowed down to three, with one selected through detailed modeling and client discussions.
GAD’s resulting architecture for Polat Levent Exclusive is a 14-story luxury apartment complex embodying a new urban residential model.
The design integrates environmental considerations, like glass facades inviting sunlight, with expansive indoor spaces that seamlessly merge interiors with exterior balconies.
Located between Levent’s office buildings and a low-density residential district, the building offers unique views of the Bosphorus and the city skyline.
The architecture, with its distinctive natural stone facade featuring complex biophilic geometry, incorporates organic forms, large balconies, and terraces.
This facade, with its undulating shapes, provides outdoor spaces enriched with natural water features and green floral textures on each floor.
The sunlight-catching geometry creates a unique architectural style that harmoniously unites nature and urban elements, inspired in part by Levent’s modernist buildings of the 1950s and the quest for new urban residential models.
The design underscores the growing importance of greenery, sunlight, and open spaces, especially post-COVID pandemic.
The Polat Levent Exclusive showcases this through its distinctive natural stone exterior with biophilic geometry that varies organically towards the upper floors.
The facade features a honeycomb-supported laminated mechanical natural stone structure, paired with sliding glass doors equipped with solar control and high color rendering value, essential for biophilic design.
The inclusion of noise-reducing glass significantly lowers internal noise levels, enhancing the acoustic quality of the living spaces. During the design process, balcony parapets were shaped to optimize landscape views, with consideration for ambient noise levels.
The building’s form was influenced by the north’s exposure, balancing limited direct sunlight on upper floors with floor retractions.
The use of the podium above commercial space as expansive gardens for 3rd-floor apartments and the commercial areas on the ground level, determined based on residents’ daily needs, enhance the building’s self-sufficiency.
The rooftop pool, designed with wind analysis in mind, is shielded from direct wind, and post-tension systems are employed to strengthen the balconies.
Post-tension (tensioning) systems have been utilized to enhance the concrete resistance of these expansive balconies with post-tension cables have been employed in the supporting columns and beams, connecting the structural elements and increasing the building’s rigidity.
The 14-story design features individual pools on terraces and sky gardens, offering outdoor living with access to Bosphorus winds.
The social facility on the roof prioritizes residents’ well-being, enriching their social life. The ground level hosts a commercial arcade that blends with the area’s small-scale urban character, facing a park and restaurants.
This area, curated by GAD, will also feature urban public art, unifying architecture, art, and nature.
Conclusion The Polat Exclusive Levent, situated on a 2,360 square meters plot, presents a mix of apartment options, commercial and office spaces, and garden areas, introducing a new organic biophilic design and architecture typology for Istanbul.
The 14-floor, 86-key Polat Levent Exclusive aims to provide a contemporary urban residential model, optimizing sunlight and air currents for comfort and sustainability. Positioned between Levent’s office buildings and a low-density residential area, it offers diverse views of Istanbul from each floor.
Its innovative design and integration of art and nature render the Polat Exclusive Levent a contemporary architectural landmark and a new model for residential living in one of the world’s most vibrant cities.
Project: Polat Levent Exclusive
Architects: Global Architecture Development (GAD)
Lead Architect: Gokhan Avcioglu
Client: Polat Kentsel Gayrimenkul Gelistirme A.S.
Photographs: Courtesy of the Architects
