Bursa Ataturk Sports Hall

Bursa Atatürk Sports Hall occupies a significant urban position, nestled amidst key city gaps, leveraging its role in urban memory, location, topography, and unique environment. Situated on Stadium Street, it links two vital urban arteries: Mudanya Boulevard (D200) to the North and Çekirge Street to the South. The project site benefits from its central location amidst diverse and expansive urban green spaces, influencing its architectural placement. Rather than dominating these spaces, the building integrates with and respects its surroundings, particularly with Reşat Oyal Park, fostering interconnectedness rather than isolation.

Functioning as a social hub, Bursa Atatürk Sports Center aims to facilitate community interaction across all demographics, emphasizing inclusivity. Public open spaces inherently encourage social cohesion and require specific physical conditions to support diverse activities and interactions. Key factors in successful public spaces include accessibility, versatility for various activities, comfort, aesthetic appeal, and fostering social interactions.

Architectural decisions were driven by the need for sports facilities to be centrally located within urban hubs. Leveraging its surroundings—the park, Atatürk Anatolian High School, and the National Garden—the sports center aims to enhance its neighborhood as a public, rather than solely structural, environment. The design aims to harmonize with the surroundings and enhance accessibility, reflecting its intensive program.

The building’s massing and orientation along the East-West axis emphasize strong integration with its site and surroundings. Facing open sports fields and a square to the east, the structure extends into these areas, enhancing connectivity. The eastern facade engages with the park and new front area, balancing with the western facade. The layout considers potential future transformations of nearby areas, ensuring permeability and integration within the urban fabric.

The sports hall and swimming pool functions, organized under separate headings in the program, are unified within a cohesive center. This approach allows for shared use of semi-open and open spaces while maintaining functional autonomy. The program is structured across upper and lower ground levels, organized around a central street that integrates building entrances and enhances the square-park relationship. Foyers opening onto the street further integrate the program with its urban context.