ABOUT

SO is located in the Çayyolu district which has been developed as the new center of urban life in the city of Ankara. With its angulated planes and dynamic form, SO rises on a boulevard that connects the most important arterial roads of this capital city.
The building sets back 30 meters from the boulevard and it rises as a tower comprised of 3 blocks of different sizes, stacked up on top of each other above the podium. As it rises up, the building steps back further from the boulevard. Because of the 16 meters of level difference between the front boulevard and the road at the back, the retail center is planned below the entrance level of the residential and office block. Location of the entrances of these two blocks at the higher road and their separation from that of retail, is found positive.
As three independent blocks stack up on top of each other, green roof terraces are planned where these blocks meet. Solved in three different levels, the building is split both horizontally and vertically by roof gardens and these three blocks are further differentiated by the use of different materials, which all together form a basis for the overall composition.
The first block which forms the podium is comprised of retail units while the second one houses the horizontal residential block and the third one contains the office tower. A fragmented approach is employed for the composition of blocks and the facade. In order for both to have similar scale with the neighbour buildings and to reflect the multifunctional programme to the exterior, the building is broken down in form, colour and texture both in the design of podium and tower block. By means of differentiation in the arcihtectural language, the autonomous identity of retail units at the podium block are also expressed. The platform on the first block includes closed and open-air social areas for the residential units. The roof garden, fitness and SPA center, swimming pool with a retractable glass roof, and the pool bar serving all social areas are reserved for residential use.
Two different systems are used for the building envelope. The glass curtain wall with three dimensional texture is a sun controlled envelope which provides different reflection effects via its angled surfaces and also create lateral surfaces for the lighting of the building at night. For the tower block, angles of the roof gardens form both a contrast of the composition of the blocks and opaque surfaces acting as base for the lighting at night.
Passersby of the boulevard will perceive the tower in different forms at different hours of the day. On the other hand, the slit at the middle axis of the crystal-like form of the podium block defines an attractive entrance.
SO, sits on a plot of 7500 m² with a total gross area of 41.000 m² and 37 floors; 22 of which are reserved for offices while 8 levels belong to residences and 4 to retail units. The car park and technical areas are located at the basement floors of this mixed-use project whose construction is planned to be finished by the fall of 2018.