Esma Sultan Palace By GAD
By Jeffrey Hyatt
Esma Sultan is a multi-purpose event space in Ortakoy, Istanbul – a busy entertainment district on the banks of the Bosphorus. What we have here is essentially a glass and steel box inside the ruins of a palace to create a covered venue. The brick palace was built about 200 years ago for Esma Sultan, an Ottoman Sultan’s wife as a summer palace — but you knew that. Destroyed by fire over a century ago, the exterior brick walls are all that remain of the building.
The Marmara Hotel adapted the land-marked ruin in 1999, keeping the walls as a framework for a modern interior. GAD designed a stainless steel and glass box that is suspended within the brick structure. The brick walls inadvertently create a shelter for the transparent glass box from the sun, rain and wind. From the outside, the building gives the illusion that the palace remains in its original state. Once inside, guests are reminded of the building’s former incarnation with views of the Bosphorus made possible though the original, arched brick window frames. [via gad]
