Sapphire of Istanbul

Istanbul Sapphire, or Sapphire, will be the tallest building of Istanbul's Levent main business district and the second tallest building in Istanbul and Turkey - after the Diamond of Istanbul located in the nearby Maslak business district - when completed in June 2009. It is currently under construction and is the country's first ecological skyscraper. Sapphire will rise 54 floors and reach the above-ground structural height of 238 meters (261 meters including its antenna). Sapphire Istanbul is the luxury residence project of Biskon Construction (a subsidiary of Kiler group of companies).

Sapphire Istanbul is strategically located close to the TEM and E5 main road arteries and the Boğaziçi and FSM bridges, has a direct access to the subway from its 3rd basement floor, and is situated on Büyükdere Avenue, one of Istanbul's main thoroufares, in the middle of the city's central Besiktaş, Etiler and Şişli districts. Living with nature and greenery will be possible without leaving the city center after İstanbul Sapphire project is completed.

İstanbul Sapphire has been designed by Tabanlıoğlu Architecture, high-tech, and consists of 64 floors (54 above-ground and 10 basement floors), communal living floors, extensive parking spaces, large shopping mall, and 47 floors for residences.

There will be specialized floors which have private gardens each 3 floors, and every 9 floors are separated from each other by a communal living area or mechanical floors. Design of the gardens are proposed with few alternatives and the consistency of garden maintenance is under residence management company’s responsibility.

Sapphire Istanbul is the very first ecological building of Turkey whose two special glass shells can take the outside air naturally by holes located at every 3 floor. This provides that residence inhabitants will not affected negative weather conditions and voice in addition to being a buffer outside atmosphere and internal facilities. Absorption of the sunlight and ultraviolet gleams will be ensured by a special curtain system automatically controlled depending on seasons, day hour.

Turkey's deepest excavated construction pit

The foundation pit excavated for the project - 42,5 meters deep - is the deepest foundation pit excavated for any structure in Turkey.

Construction work

The project is built on the plot of 11,339 m2 and has the total construction area of 157,800 m2, including a 35,000 m2 shopping mall.

Companies

The companies involved in the development and construction of the project have included thus far:

• Biskon Yapı (construction subsidiary of Kiler Group of Companies and the project's main construction company, Istanbul, company web site)
• Guney Turizm (Mustafa Tatlici Group) (owner of the plot)
• Kiler Holding (investor and developer)
• Tabanlıoğlu Mimarlık (the project's architectural design, Istanbul, company web site)
• Demsar Inşaat (project's sub-contractor for structural construction of the skyscraper, Istanbul),
• Ruscheweyh Consult Gmbh (wind loads on buildings and structures, Germany, company web site), and other Turkish and international companies.

See also

• Istanbul
• List of tallest buildings in Istanbul

References

• Istanbul Sapphire
• http://www.biskon.com.tr
• Emporis.com