Project: Mira Residence
Architects: Aura Design Studio
Location: Ankara, Turkey
Photographs by: Courtesy of Aura Design Studio
The residential and commercial development of Mira Residences is currently under construction on a 10.177 m2 project island. It will house 440 residents and restaurants, cafes, shops, sports facilities, a spa, and a courtyard when complete. Aura Design Studio has designed a landmark residential tower and retail block connected from the basement floor and yard.
Residential Tower is the landmark apartment tower of this new mixed-use development on the edge of the Beytepe in the borough of Çankaya, Ankara with 85 meters height; it will be one of Beytepe’s tallest residential buildings.
The project’s location is on the main boulevard, the city’s luxurious residential area. Responding directly to the climate and culture of Ankara, sustainable residential and retail development is conceived to strengthen the city’s role as a centre for commerce, Retail, entertainment while providing new open court space for the city to enjoy. It has a prestigious site within the more comprehensive luxurious residences and offices to extend the new city centre Ümitköy- Çayyolu district. Retail and dining units each have distinct exterior expressions and large open spaces, preferable in pandemic conditions.
The project features strong visual and physical connections to the surrounding urban context regarding the City’s building scale, material palette, pedestrian networks, and view corridors.
Particular consideration has been given to the public realm and the creation of an attractive environment accessible to pedestrians, and the design connects the City and landscaped public space with public gardens.
The residential tower and the scheme is designed to be environmentally efficient, maximizing natural light and ventilation to reduce energy use. As well as helping to define the skyline of the new development, the tower animates the ground plane with a retail podium, which connects to the pedestrian to the boulevard from three sides. Inner courtyard is accessible from the south, north, and west for the visitors and from the east for the residents.
Boulevard is sloping across the façade of the retail block. Where the tower addresses the residential neighbourhood of Beytepe, the retail block of the complex addresses the boulevard shopping axis, retail shops, restaurants, and cafes face the boulevard with 10 m height facades with two floors also faces the inner courtyard. All of the units are designed to be accessible from the boulevard and from the inner court.
The retail podium is set between the retail block and the shops under the residential block at ground level. Between the retail podium and the closed car park, a circulation cube is designed.
The retail block appears lower from ground level and connects the boulevard surrounding mass structure, while from the east, it reflects the high-rise nature of the new city centre. A central volume rises from the residential block to provide an elegant marker on the skyline.
Direct, disabled-friendly pedestrian accesses to the courtyard, open and closed car parks, shaded stoops in front of each retail unit, networked entrances, and direct residential connect the mixed-use development, coherent mass articulation with the existing urban fabric. At the same time, interior landscaped plazas, gardens, and pathways create a campus-like environment with public gathering space.
The apartment interiors are based on elegant and functional layouts, with calm, uncluttered spaces that allow the occupants the flexibility to inhabit them in a number of different ways. The living room facades of the tower are glazed to provide spectacular views of the living court and open city view, while the room is facing elevation integrating the buildings with the surrounding urban grain. The podium level and surrounding external spaces provide a cluster of shops, cafes, restaurants, a gymnasium, a children’s area, and a public open court.
The project also contains two levels of below-grade parking. Residence and Retail have separate entrances on different floors for security and operational convenience.
The practice has designed both architecture and interiors. Taking advantage of the light and space provided by the deep windows and drawing the eye to expansive views of the courtyard and City, the materials palette combines pale wood floors, luxurious beige ceramics, and white ecru wood panel detailing. The design concept fuses the classic sophistication with the creative, aesthetic, functional design.
The 24 story building offers various apartment sizes, topped by a single, spectacular duplex penthouse. Designed from the inside-out and the outside-in, there are four apartments on two typical floors. The first typical floor is for four four-bedroom apartments. The other is four apartments for two four-bedroom, one five-bedroom, and one three-bedroom apartment. Each typology has a defined identity to respond to the needs of the market.
The rectilinear floor plate has been extended on each side to create a cruciform plan. By maximizing the perimeter in this way, almost all units are dual aspects, making a generous sense of space and light in every residence. Layouts maximize the living area with an efficient, intuitive plan that places the entrance at the heart of the space to eliminate unnecessary corridors. The bedrooms are enclosed by solid cladding panels for privacy, while the living rooms and kitchens are fully glazed.
Every residence has a balcony which is essential for pandemic conditions. Balconies also help to soften the tower’s profile, contrasting and setting it apart from the City’s other residential buildings. Blurring the boundaries between inside and outside space, the doors to these balconies can be opened to create an external ‘room’. The balcony is integrated with the kitchen depending on Turkey, especially; in Ankara, where people spend much more time in kitchens, unlike in other countries. The project has large and separate kitchen areas with living space and balconies.
Residences have their own children club. Children club is active for the children with their parents or without their parents. There are Play areas for toddlers, a play station room for teenagers and workstations, a birthday party area, and a small café.
Near the entrance lobby, there is a meeting area as a gathering space. There can be used by residents for multipurpose meetings. The meeting room has a small kitchenette and health spaces.
The residents’ gym is located on the first basement floor has a sliding glass façade opening onto the expansive sports terrace. The landscape was designed using this slope of the surrounding area to create an expansive terrace area where the café and the sport are open. Residents can use this terrace for open area sports activities like yoga or Pilates. The building also includes a spa and a cinema room within its context. The colour palette is a combination of browns, greys, and whites, respectively.
-Project description and images provided by Aura Design Studio
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