BALANCE GÜNEŞLİ
Balance Güneşli is a mixed-use development that brings together offices, residences, and commercial spaces along Basın Ekspres Road, one of Istanbul’s fastest-growing business districts. Unlike many developments that create isolated, exclusive communities, Balance Güneşli is designed to be open, accessible, and seamlessly integrated with the urban fabric, fostering a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly atmosphere 24/7.
Strategically located between Istanbul’s main transport and commercial corridors, Güneşli emerges as a key urban hub, revealed through the Envisioning phase analysis.
Beginning with Envisioning
Before the design process began, Avcı Architects initiated an Envisioning phase — a strategic research process that defines the project’s function, program, and potential within its urban context. Through regional analysis and market insights, the team identified Güneşli as a rapidly transforming urban node, positioned at the intersection of Istanbul’s key residential and commercial axes.
Massing Diagram of Balance Güneşli
The Massing Strategy
The building form of Balance Güneşli was developed through a careful dialogue between the site, the sun, and the surrounding context. The mass steps down toward the Ayamama Creek, opening views and allowing daylight to penetrate deep into the interior spaces. Its composition balances density and openness —creating a dynamic skyline along Taşocağı Street while maintaining a human scale at the pedestrian level. The result is an architectural form that embodies the project’s core idea: balance between urban life, nature, and light.
Balance Güneşli is not merely a collection of buildings; it is a redefinition of urban experience that prioritizes public life, openness, and freedom.
Shaping the City Through Openness
The project embraces street-level permeability, ensuring unrestricted pedestrian access to enhance social interaction and create a dynamic streetscape. Instead of forming a solid urban block, the buildings are carefully fragmented into smaller volumes, establishing a street network that can extend into future developments. This human-scale approach ensures that while the tower defines the main street, the lower-rise buildings shape the pedestrian experience, rising no higher than four stories to maintain a sense of openness and flow.
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