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Akşemsettin Primary School
Akşemsettin Primary School
İstanbul, Türkiye
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Other Projects by Uygur Architects
Akşemsettin Primary School
İstanbul, Türkiye
Firm
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2021
SIZE
100,000 sqft - 300,000 sqft
BUDGET
Unknown
Akşemsettin Primary School is one of the schools realized as part of the “45 Public Buildings in Istanbul” package project, designed by Uygur Architects. The schools, selected for demolition and reconstruction under ISMEP (Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Project), are reimagined with increased capacity and context-specific designs on their original plots. The architects approached this large-scale public initiative as a critical opportunity to modernize educational spaces.
Located in Küçükçekmece—a district where densely populated informal settlements are rapidly transforming into mass housing—the reconstruction of Akşemsettin Primary School was seen as an important step in reinstating both the architectural and social significance of the school. In an area marked by haphazard and speculative development, establishing a contemporary, well-designed, and socially sustainable educational building became a central architectural intention.
Before its demolition in 2018, Akşemsettin Primary School operated within a structurally inadequate and inflexible building. Occupying a cramped 3,497 m² site, the school served 1,400 students with 35 classrooms and 2 kindergarten rooms. In the new design, although the educational program expanded significantly—nearly tripling the built-up area—the challenge of density was addressed through a careful and strategic composition of volumes.
The new layout places several orthogonal blocks housing communal and social functions on the ground level, taking advantage of the site’s level differences. These blocks collectively form a plinth that encloses a central courtyard. Above this base, a compact disc-shaped volume—containing the classroom units and other repetitive functions—rests in a superposed form. The interstitial spaces created by this layered massing serve as vibrant pockets that encourage social interaction, while also ensuring spatial fluidity.
Since students from demolished schools are temporarily relocated to nearby institutions during the construction period, the rebuilding process must be both swift and economical. To meet this requirement, Uygur Architects developed a strategic approach by creating a flexible "library" of materials, details, and compositional schemes. While each school is designed uniquely, this library serves as a foundational "alphabet" from which different architectural "sentences" are constructed for each site. At Akşemsettin Primary School, brick and exposed concrete define the primary material palette, while the disc volume features a custom-textured concrete façade.
With the addition of new social and communal spaces—including laboratories, sports facilities, multi-purpose halls, and workshops—the total built-up area has increased 2.5 times, reaching 11,669 m². The number of classrooms has risen from 37 to 56, now including music studios, special education rooms, science labs, art studios, and extra kindergarten play areas—yet the overall student capacity remains constant.
Located in Küçükçekmece—a district where densely populated informal settlements are rapidly transforming into mass housing—the reconstruction of Akşemsettin Primary School was seen as an important step in reinstating both the architectural and social significance of the school. In an area marked by haphazard and speculative development, establishing a contemporary, well-designed, and socially sustainable educational building became a central architectural intention.
Before its demolition in 2018, Akşemsettin Primary School operated within a structurally inadequate and inflexible building. Occupying a cramped 3,497 m² site, the school served 1,400 students with 35 classrooms and 2 kindergarten rooms. In the new design, although the educational program expanded significantly—nearly tripling the built-up area—the challenge of density was addressed through a careful and strategic composition of volumes.
The new layout places several orthogonal blocks housing communal and social functions on the ground level, taking advantage of the site’s level differences. These blocks collectively form a plinth that encloses a central courtyard. Above this base, a compact disc-shaped volume—containing the classroom units and other repetitive functions—rests in a superposed form. The interstitial spaces created by this layered massing serve as vibrant pockets that encourage social interaction, while also ensuring spatial fluidity.
Since students from demolished schools are temporarily relocated to nearby institutions during the construction period, the rebuilding process must be both swift and economical. To meet this requirement, Uygur Architects developed a strategic approach by creating a flexible "library" of materials, details, and compositional schemes. While each school is designed uniquely, this library serves as a foundational "alphabet" from which different architectural "sentences" are constructed for each site. At Akşemsettin Primary School, brick and exposed concrete define the primary material palette, while the disc volume features a custom-textured concrete façade.
With the addition of new social and communal spaces—including laboratories, sports facilities, multi-purpose halls, and workshops—the total built-up area has increased 2.5 times, reaching 11,669 m². The number of classrooms has risen from 37 to 56, now including music studios, special education rooms, science labs, art studios, and extra kindergarten play areas—yet the overall student capacity remains constant.
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