An Eco-Park for sustainable research and technology that will promote small and middle-sized enterprises is planned for Ortadoğu Sanayi ve Ticaret Merkezi (OSTİM), an industrial zone located in Ankara, Turkey. The project aims to maintain the site’s landscape. Offices, conference and workshop spaces are embedded within the terraced landscape. The building – situated at the edge of the site – constitutes a landmark for the area and connects with the terraces at different levels. Designed to create a pleasant communal space for its users with minimum interference to the natural context, the project incorporates various sustainable features including natural lighting, geothermal heat pumps, green roofs, passive ventilation and water efficiency/irrigation systems.

The jury greatly appreciated the project’s objective to promote economic growth in the region through innovation in environmental technologies. The building is accordingly conceived as a test bed for sustainable research exploring new techniques pertaining to the use of renewable resources – energy for heating and cooling, rainwater retention, temperature control, daylight, and natural ventilation. At the core of the scheme is the intention to establish a careful balance between the natural and fabricated realm – an objective most clearly expressed in the project’s landscape strategy, which aims to integrate the building in its natural setting.

The project, designed in the intersection of man-made and natural, aims to leave most of the site to the green therefore the hill in the site is used for housing offices, conference and workshop spaces in terraces underneath the green texture. The building situated on the south of the site is designed as a landmark for the area and is in close contact with the terrace structures in different levels. The terrace buildings offer a working environment intertwined with nature. Ostim Eco-Park project incorporates various sustainable features in its design as well as measures for improved lighting, ventilation, heating, visual comfort and indoor air quality to ensure user satisfaction and efficacy.