The Sümerbank Textile Factory in Kayseri (1932-1935) was one of the earliest and largest industrial complexes designed and constructed following the foundation of the Turkish Republic. This was a striking ensemble of buildings with rationalist and functionalist vocabulary, which also functioned as an urban center of social and cultural modernization, providing work and cultural/recreational activities based on a secular and westernized way of life in contrast with the existing traditional society.
The architectural design was directed by architect Ivan Nikolaev for Turkstroj, a commercial trust founded in Moscow. The complex was opened to production on 16 September 1935. Besides being one of the largest industrial investments of the period, this project also aimed to create a socio-cultural center for the urban and economic development of the city, serving the Kemalist ideology of modernizing and secularizing the society through scientific, political, cultural and industrial revolutions.
The complex is being transformed into an urban university campus. The master plan, designed by Burak Asiliskender and Nilufer Baturayoglu Yoney, dated 2014 aims to redefine the urban and socio-cultural function of the complex. The open campus concept will welcome the citizens to an architecturally preserved and restored site with a selection of new activities focusing on culture and education at different levels where the spirit and memory of place will be sustained.
The factory went through a number of technological changes during its production history, and was finally closed and abandoned in 1999. The site, located along the northern development corridor of the city, and its buildings soon became derelict and were vandalized. Various projects for its regeneration as a green area were not implemented. National designation followed for the site in 2003 and for the buildings in 2007. However no conservation or adaptive re-use plans were made until the allocation of the complex to Abdullah Gül University (AGU) in 2012.
The restoration and adaptive reuse project for the AGU Sumer Campus Fire Station, designed by Burak Asiliskender and Nilufer Baturayoglu Yoney (for the AGU School of Architecture), is completed in January 2017. The building is the third functioning building in the campus, and second of the restoration and adaptive reuse project. The Fire Station Building is a large rectangular building around 550m2, elongated in the east-west direction.
The restoration and adaptive reuse design is based on preserving the original part of the building with extracting additional parts in time. All of the original door-openings were preserved with in-situ interventions. Two fire vehicle maintenance holes were also preserved with glass covering surfaces to demonstrate its original function. A contemporary corten covered unit were added to the demolished parts on their traces to support mechanical and technical facilities. The restoration and adaptive re-use approach of the
AGU Fire Station Building was transformed into a social-hub of the campus, on a contemporary adaptive re-use approach of preserving the unique building technology and spatial context.