MM House

Reinforcing the existing concrete slab separating the basement and ground floors, compressing the continuous surrounding foundation walls with concrete load bearing walls, constructing the new steel structure of the building on these new walls and covering the roof construction with zinc titanium, detach the new structure from the old one.

Thereby, a void without structural elements has been achieved in the interior space.  The steel construction has been left open at the beam and the transom levels. On the outer skin of the new steel  frame structure, recalling the traditional stone houses of Mardin in which the user has spent his childhood, the aggregated brick (aerated concrete block)provides an industrial look coherent to the new design of the house and do not require maintenance for long years.

The entrance stairs belonging to the old house have been scraped and the original blue tile and its worn texture have been preserved. An interior stair core has been installed across it. The facade of the stair core has been covered by glass all along, inviting the outside tree view inside the house. The stairs define an axis that divides the house into two parts separating different functions. This plan scheme is at the same time a reference to a traditional Turkish house typology named “karnıyarık”.

At the ground (entrance) floor, functions including working and listening to music have been located on the left, while toilet and living spaces have been located on the right side of the floor.  The existing window openings have been preserved as they were, and the balcony has been restored. The basement floor used to be a storage space, and it has been transformed into a more functional floor; including the main kitchen which has direct access to the garden, a library and a working space, sanitary and storage spaces, and a guest bathroom. The roof slope has been preserved. A bathroom and the main bedroom have been located on the attic floor. Fixed furniture have been designed and applied together as well as the hidden closet, located on the attic floor regarding the roof slope, containing the writer’s archive and his personal collections.