Balat Halki — Bringing a Historic Masonry Building Back to Life
Fener–Balat, Istanbul | Restoration in progress
A conservation-led design approach that brings the character of a historic masonry building into contemporary use.
Standing at the junction of Yıldırım Caddesi and Fener Kireçhane Sokak, this historic corner building forms part of Fener–Balat’s layered architectural heritage. Its neoclassical façade composition, rhythmic window openings, string courses and projecting bays reflect the district’s nineteenth-century masonry housing tradition.
The Balat Halki design approach aims to preserve the building’s original character while accommodating contemporary needs. Alongside façade proportions and material relationships, the documented basement storage spaces with jack-arch floors and the stone-and-brick well are considered integral elements of the building’s historic fabric.
The ongoing work attends to both the visible façades and the building’s hidden layers, seeking to establish a sensitive connection between its past and present-day life.
Gallery: Design visualisations, an existing-condition photograph and a façade colour study.
Project Gallery
