Suluca House / Yalin Architectural Design
Text description provided by the architects. The project area is in Suluca village in Lapseki, at the northern end of Çanakkale province in Turkey. Ergin House is the residence of a small family, situated 500 meters away from the Dardanelles Strait which connects Aegean Sea and Marmara Sea. Designing single family homes is one of the most challenging subjects of architecture. During the design phase, a close relationship should formed between the designer and the user. Although the house is a small building, the designer should increase the level of understanding with the user, spend an intense effort and attention.
Ergin House was designed and built with similar challenges. The process which lasted a total of two years started by getting to know family members. Their lives, habits and land data shaped the design idea. In design period, we have produced various strategies that could connect the user demands and the long narrow plot overlooking Dardanelles Strait and Çanakkale Bridge. Long outer street, inner street, several rooms faces to inner street, open spaces and gardens formed our main design approach. While this fragmented scenario offered many spatial possibilities, it also caused many difficulties during the construction phase.
Places that move in and out, forward and backward like the Aegean coast have created many micro courtyards, stony places and spaces. These were different possibilities that contains variety of life. In this context, we designed the entire building as connected rooms and spaces to a long thin inner street for which these spaces stepping on different elevations. We have separated the heavier ground floor which is made of stone and concrete, and the upper floor made of light wooden carcass. The contrast between these two levels, resulted in the feeling of different structures and variety in lights, textures and even smells.
We used the idea of ‘being there during construction on-site and improving the design while building’ in almost all of our projects. During the construction period, we tried to use some practical details that would allow us to control this relatively distant construction site. In this context, we tried to shape the construction process at different levels of details according to the manufacturer’s and the craftsmen’s abilities. Space is an environment, a habitat in which life can make green and grow stronger. The power of the space is also an infrastructure which can also determine the quality of life.
