Located in the Yelki neighborhood of Güzelbahçe, İzmir, Yelki House is a single-family residential project designed on a 500 m² plot. The building consists of a basement, ground floor, and first floor. The ground floor accommodates the living area, kitchen, and a study, while the upper floor houses the bedrooms. The site has a flat… View Article
Located in the Yelki neighborhood of Güzelbahçe, İzmir, Yelki House is a single-family residential project designed on a 500 m² plot.
The building consists of a basement, ground floor, and first floor. The ground floor accommodates the living area, kitchen, and a study, while the upper floor houses the bedrooms. The site has a flat topography.
Although fully embedded into the ground, the basement level is supported by a large, open-to-sky courtyard (cour anglaise), allowing natural light and ventilation to enter and enabling this level to function as a secondary living space. Technical rooms are also located on this floor.
Adopting a simple and cubic architectural language, the building is characterized by a travertine wall rising on the façade, which emerges as a defining element of the design. Interpreting this material—commonly used on horizontal planes—on a vertical surface lends the building a distinctive expression. The continuity of this material on the stairwell walls further reinforces the design’s overall integrity.
Silver travertine was selected to create a contrast with the dominant white surfaces on the façade. The rhythmic arrangement of stone panels in varying dimensions adds a dynamic texture to the exterior. By preserving the natural matte and porous (honed) texture of the travertine, the material is intended to age and evolve together with its users.
The reinforced concrete roof, which covers the linear plan scheme, is designed as a gable roof by intersecting with the travertine wall rising from the center of the building. This approach allows for increased ceiling heights within the interior spaces. The gallery void perceived from the first-floor corridor, along with roof windows placed in different areas, enables daylight to penetrate deeply into the interior, creating bright and spacious living environments.