Çanakkale Municipality Green Local Government and Culture Center Building and Arrangement of the Nearby Surroundings

Çanakkale Municipality Green Local Government and Culture Center Building and Arrangement of the Nearby Surroundings National Architectural Competition was organized by Çanakkale Municipality in 2012. The project, which won first place in the competition, was completed and put into use in 2023 after the construction process. The project area has a remarkable public use potential due to its relationship with Atatürk Street and Demircioğlu Street, which are important city arteries where residential and commercial settlements are dense. The square presents an urban environment to citizens with different functions that can be used independently of the building. Therefore, two different levels have been proposed in the square, suitable for use at any time of the day. The pedestrian movement between levels enables new functions for the open areas beyond being only passages. It can be a celebration place after the wedding ceremony, an open foyer after an exhibition, or a cafeteria patio where you can stop by after a long day. The city council has been seen as a representation of democracy and social awareness in the public space. Publicity, which we now perceive as sociological rather than political, functions as an interface between the political system and civil society. Hence, the idea of creating a structure that is based on publicity and public space also has a functional aspect in terms of the political integration of citizens. For this reason, the council chamber, which is seen as an area where communal negotiations take place, is located transparently, accessible from the square and from within the building. Urban and civil society-oriented mechanisms such as city councils, children’s councils, and women’s councils, which aim to bring a solution to the democratic deficit created by representative democracy mechanisms, have been seen as the backbone of the future’s polyphonic, transparent local government approach. Çanakkale Municipality requested and aimed for this new service building to receive the Leed Certificate with sustainability principles throughout the entire process, from the competition phase to the construction phase of the building. A sustainable design should seek to respond to local problems, beyond simply optimizing energy, it should contribute to the socio-economic development of the environment in which the building is located. In this context, the main approach is to ensure that the project establishes a strong bond with its environment and that the potentials in its surroundings are re-evaluated together with the new urban structure. Only the presidential wing is located on the west side due to the municipality’s representative values and has an interaction with the entire square. To contribute to a sustainable building design, using land potential at the highest level, minimizing non- renewable energy consumption, using products suitable for environmental health, saving water use and protecting water resources, improving air quality, choosing accessible materials and resource selection, using mechanical and electrical systems that will provide the highest level of energy efficiency, using photovoltaic panels on the entire roof surface were used in this project.