VitrA Çağdaş Mimarlık Dizisi - Arkitera

Located at Gümüşdere, the northern coast of Istanbul, on a site owned by Bosphorus
University, Burç Beach is a beach facility and water/nature sports center constructed in
2003. The buildings, used only during the summer, were built on sand. Aiming to create
a pleasant leisure space for users; the project adopted a cheerful and lively architectural
approach, in visual harmony with the environment. During the renovation in 2008, the
Burç Beach project was reconsidered with a new, more extensive and dynamic approach.
A meeting point of kite surfers, the facility covers a 8,500 m 2 area and contains
two 2,500 m 2 bars, lounges, sunbathing and restaurant platforms, showers and a water
sports center that has been designed to resemble a kite. The lightweight structures
resting on the sanded ground are cladded with solid wood. Dynamic forms were chosen
for this young and energetic recreation space.
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Allocated to Bosphorus University to respond to the social needs of students in 1985
and constructed in phases between 1991 and 2002, Burç Beach I and II are located
within Kilyos Sarıtepe Campus, and have been designed as daily coast facilities that
serve as a center for water and nature sports. Operated by the Alumni Association of
Bosphorus University, Burç Beach I and II are located at the Gümüşdere Beach of Kilyos
Bay, one of the few coasts suitable for water sports in Istanbul. After Burç Beach I was
opened in 2003, the adjacent Burç Beach II was added in 2008, expanding the coastal
recreation areas that the Kilyos Sarıtepe Campus of Bosphorus University uses for summer
holidays and activities. Besides the requirement of constructing lightweight and
temporary structures in accordance with coastal law, the constantly moving ground
and the special flora of the beach, which is one of the major dune areas of the world,
have necessitated the settlement of the whole facility on the existing sand ground
in order to preserve this delicate habitat. The constructive language created by the
wooden and metal components brought together using a dry mounting system expresses
itself as temporality and lightness in the identity of the facility, while creating
a non-orthogonal spread out plan scheme. Used only during the summer, the facilities
have been distributed over the site in accordance with the territorial logic of the praxis
of beach activities. Allowing for very diverse possibilities, this pluralist design language
successfully reflects the performative actions and their temporary and dynamic nature
in the architectural structure, material culture and aesthetic language of the buildings.
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