In a location that enjoys panoramic views stretching from the Bosphorus Strait in the west to the Princes’ Islands and the Sea of Marmara to the south, the Varyap Meridian project truly embraces the city of Istanbul from which it rises. The project presents a 410,000 sq m mixed-use development including five tower elements housing residential units, hotel, offices and conference facilities with landscaped public areas and parking facilities. Varyap Meridian has 1,500 residential flats, divided amongst 450 different flat types in sizes ranging from studio to five-bedroom.

Varyap awarded the project to RMJM for their superior cutting edge design they submitted in the international competition, against eight competing multi-national architects. The group is known as the designer of the Gazprom Centre in St. Petersburg, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Jumeirah Islands in Dubai and Olympic Green Convention Centre in Beijing.

Inspired by the rich culture in Istanbul, the RMJM design team envisioned Varyap Meridian as an iconic complex that would be innovative and organic. Innovative in its approach to planning and sustainability practices, organic in its aesthetic integration into Istanbul’s cityscape. The design team made numerous trips to Istanbul, visiting and photographing buildings to draw inspiration for the unique Varyap Meridian design.

Besides its wide lobbies, cafe, fitness centre, sauna, steam bath and changing rooms and indoor and outdoor swimming pools, Varyap Meridian’s excellent recreational space does not confine residences with limited space measured out by their property lines.

Eco-energy
To better capitalise upon the topological advantages of its belvedere situation, the design concept for Varyap Meridian was governed by the need to mediate between the maximisation of panoramic views and the minimisation of solar heat gain.

Designers struck this balance through manipulation of the orientation and massing of the buildings, as well as through landscape design and green innovation. The project will include both passive and active methodologies for improving sustainability with mindful facade design, production of electricity by wind turbines and photovoltaic panels and utilisation of grey water. Structural consultants and engineers Buro Happold designed the whole project, which includes rainwater collection sites and water processing facilities to help optimise water usage and reduce energy consumption.

The Varyap Meridian project uses only 13 percent of the land to construct buildings. The remaining area is designed as green space and adheres to the area’s topographic construct, creating a wonderful opportunity to satisfy the individual and social needs of Varyap Meridian’s residents.

The project is designed to achieve LEED certification from the US Green Building Council, a measure of new developments’ environmental sustainability, and if it is successful, would be the first of its kind in Turkey.

The Varyap Meridian project preserves a sensibility for the aesthetics of its environment, inspired by the unique context and culture of Istanbul, and taking its surrounding urban environment into account. Citing creative references ranging from the domes and minarets of the Blue Mosque to the long lateral lines of Le Corbusier’s sketches of the Turkish countryside, the buildings seem to almost rise out of the landscape, taking flight in the form of the 60-storey tower. Varyap Meridian’s exteriors are decorated by a spectral colour range, which transforms from terra cotta to blue hue, with a palette derived from sources as varied as the tiles of the Blue Mosque to the rosy hues of the sunrise over the Strait.

Worth £1.2bn, Varyap Meridian offers 100 percent premium to its customers over the lifetime of the construction period, from May 2009 to December 2011. The prices started at £1200/sq m in May 2009 but have already increased to £1800/sq m, a 44 percent increase in eight months, a wonderful investment before the development has even completed. The selling price is expected to reach £3200/sq m by the end of the year 2010.

The Varyap Meridian project promises to set a new industry standard in sustainable commercial design, continuing in a tradition of excellence in architecture.

Contact: www.varyapmeridian.com