Zonguldak, Turkey
Melike Altınışık and the design team of Melike Altınışık Architects – MAA have designed the new headquarters of Turkish Petroleum A.O (TPAO), the national petroleum and natural gas company in Turkey, located in Zonguldak, the Black Sea region of the country.
Architecturally, the new headquarters is conceived as a boundary at the western fringe of Filyos Port, where the distinctions between land and sea, past and future, history and technology converge.
The design of the building seeks to repurpose the existing breakwater wall, a spatial intersection of time and continuity, into a new interface space spanning 110 meters in width and 30 meters in depth.
The TPAO Headquarters will have an area of approximately 3270 square meters and three floors above ground.
The existing 4.5-meter-tall breakwater wall has been raised to 9 meters, bringing the building’s highest elevation point to 17 meters.
“This interface space establishes a bridge between history, nature, and technology, where the borders become spatial and get blurred the relationships between spaces. It will become a new workplace with units that will support the main meeting spaces and observation spaces,” explain the architects.
“This observation space is more than a sudden definition, it discusses its reflection on the spatial and behavioral geography of the region through several routes.”
The ground floor is conceived as a communal area, housing the main entrance, information lobby, kitchen, technical area, and support volumes.
At the core of the building lies a two-story-high expansive atrium, fostering visual and circulatory connections among all spaces.
The main floors are segmented into offices, conference rooms, and observation areas. The first floor accommodates open office spaces, the general manager’s room, secretariat, cafeteria, archive, and support volumes.
Project: TPAO Headquarters
Architects: Melike Altınışık Architects – MAA
Lead Architect: Melike Altınışık
Project Director: Ayça Yontarım
Design Team: Ömer Faruk Seçim, Sümeyye Uçar, Ahmet Can Karakadılar, Atakan Gündüz, Batuhan Güllü, Sinem Ezgi Konaklı, Elifcan Merden, and Turgay Abacık
Client: Turkish Petroleum A.O.
Photographs: Courtesy of Melike Altınışık Architects – MAA
