Design: Begum Seckin
Visualization: Begum Seckin
Project: Frankestayn Independent Bookstore
Area: 140 m2
Challenges: Historical Building, Limited Technical and Structural Intervention, Be a Tenant, Ten Thousand Books, Heating and Ventilation
This independent bookstore project was designed for our client who wants to end his career as a lawyer and own a bookstore. This bookstore is the last project I undertook alone, from survey taking to layout drawing, concept design and client meetings, and finally to the delivery of the project, while working at Sarili Architecture.
The first thing I did after taking a survey of the 140 square meter bookstore located on the entrance and warehouse floors of a 100-year-old historical building in Tophane, Istanbul, was to determine the wet volume locations and then position the book units according to the number of books available.
Since speechs will be held at regular intervals in this bookstore, light, easily replaceable furniture was designed in the middle area, and the first floor of the bookcases was designed as a seating unit.
Every square meter was used efficiently, following the form of the building and without making any structural changes. An area has been created especially for those who want to read or browse a book in the section below.
A small cafe was designed to enable visitors to spend longer time and to create a pleasant bookstore
environment. The kitchen was positioned on the mezzanine floor according to the location of the existing installations in the building.
The small veranda located at the back of the building was designed as an open seating area, just like the front façade. It is also the only place where visitors are allowed to smoke. The seating units and coffee tables chosen here were specially designed by me because the back veranda is a very small area, 2 square meters in size.
