Istanbul Sapphire, or Sapphire, is a

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

located in the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

Levent Levent is a neighbourhood and one of the main business districts of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European side of the city. It is a part of the municipality of Beşiktaş and is situated to the north of the Golden Horn, at the western sh ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It was Istanbul's and Turkey's tallest skyscraper between 2010 and 2016, and the 4th tallest building in Europe when its construction was completed in 2010. Sapphire rises 54 floors above ground level, and has an above-ground roof height of 238 meters: the building has an overall structural height of 261 meters including its spire, which is part of the design and not a radio antenna. Designed by

Tabanlıoğlu Architects Tabanlıoğlu Architects (Turkish: Tabanlıoğlu Mimarlık) is an architectural firm based in Istanbul. The practice is led by Murat Tabanlıoğlu, Melkan Tabanlıoğlu and Özdem Gürsel. Project list Major projects, by year of completion and o ...

, it is a shopping and luxury residence

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

managed by Kiler GYO. It is also the country's first ecological skyscraper. As of 2020, Istanbul Sapphire is the 4th tallest skyscraper in Istanbul and Turkey, behind

Metropol Istanbul Tower 1 Metropol or Metropole may refer to: Places * Metropol (Berlin), a concert hall * Metropole Cafe, a New York City jazz club * Metropol Theater (disambiguation) * ''Metropole'', a tango jazz album by Artango * Hotel Metropol (disambiguation), vario ...

(70 floors / 301 metres including its twin spires) in the

Ataşehir Ataşehir is a district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is located at the junction of the O-2 and O-4 motorways on the Anatolian (Asian) side of Istanbul. Its neighbours are the districts of Ümraniye to the north, Sancaktepe to the northeast, Ma ...

district on the Asian side of the city; and the Skyland Istanbul Towers 1 and 2 (2 x 65 floors / 284 metres), located adjacent to

Türk Telekom Stadium Nef Stadium (officially known as the Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi – Nef Stadyumu) is a association football, football stadium serving as the home ground of the Süper Lig club Galatasaray S.K. (football), Galatasaray It is located in the Seyran ...

in the Seyrantepe quarter of the

Sarıyer Sarıyer () is the northernmost district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European side of the city. It consists of the neighbourhoods of Rumelifeneri, Tarabya, Yeniköy, İstinye, Emirgan and Rumelihisarı. Sarıyer also administers the Black Sea c ...

district, on the European side.

History and architecture

View of Levent financial district from Istanbul Sapphire

Istanbul Sapphire was designed by

as a high-tech structure which consists of 64 floors (54 above-ground and 10 basement floors), communal living floors, extensive parking spaces, a large shopping mall, and 47 floors for residential use. There are special floors with private gardens between every 3 floors, and every 9 floors are separated from each other by a communal living area or

mechanical floor A mechanical floor, mechanical penthouse, mechanical layer or mechanical level is a story of a high-rise building that is dedicated to mechanical and electronics equipment. "Mechanical" is the most commonly used term, but words such as ''utilit ...

s. Design of the gardens are proposed with a number of alternatives and the consistency of garden maintenance is under the residence management company’s responsibility.

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

Construction of the project began in 2006 and was completed in 2010.Emporis: Istanbul Sapphire
/ref> The building's official opening ceremony took place on 4 March 2011. The project is built on a land plot of and has an overall total construction area of , which includes a shopping mall.

Companies

The companies involved in the development and construction of the project have included thus far: * Kiler GYO (investor and developer) * Güney Turizm (Mustafa Tatlıcı, owner of the plot) * Biskon Yapı (construction subsidiary of Kiler Holding and the project's main construction company) * Demsar İnşaat (project's sub-contractor for the structural construction of the skyscraper) *

(the project's architectural design firm) * Ruscheweyh Consult GmbH (consulting firm with expertise in wind loads on buildings and structures)

Gallery

File:Modern Istanbul skyline.jpg, A distant view of

from the

Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

strait. Istanbul Sapphire is the tallest skyscraper on the left. File:Ido2.JPG, A catamaran

Seabus The SeaBus is a passenger-only ferry service in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It crosses Burrard Inlet to connect the cities of Vancouver ( Waterfront station) and North Vancouver (Lonsdale Quay). Owned by TransLink and operated by ...

on the

, with the skyscrapers of

business district in the background. Istanbul Sapphire is the first skyscraper on the left. File:Istanbul Levent skyline.jpg, View of

from

Kanlıca Kanlıca is a neighbourhood on the Asian side of the Bosphorus strait, in the Beykoz district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. It is known for a yogurt sprinkled with caster sugar, which is sold in local cafés, ibcluding thİsmailağa Kahvesiwhich h ...

Hekimler Sitesi on the Asian side of the

. Istanbul Sapphire is the first skyscraper on the right. File:Sapphire building 7375.jpg, Istanbul Sapphire during construction File:Sapphire building 9010.jpg, Istanbul Sapphire: View of the building's front facade from street level File:Sapphire building 9017 PANORAMA2B.jpg, Istanbul Sapphire: View of the building's rear facade from street level File:Sapphire Building 2652.jpg, View of the

İşbank İşbank, officially Türkiye İş Bankası, is a commercial bank in Turkey. It was the largest private bank in the country by the size of total assets, total loans, total deposits and equity, as well as by the number of branches and employees a ...

Yapı Kredi Yapı Kredi is one of the first nationwide commercial banks in Turkey, and is the fourth largest publicly owned bank in Turkey by its asset size. It was established in 1944 by Kazım Taşkent. Assets of the bank include credit cards, assets un ...

and

Finansbank QNB Finansbank is a Turkish bank with headquarters in Levent, Istanbul. It was established by leading Turkish banker Hüsnü Özyeğin in 1987 and for a period was the Turkish bank with the largest network of foreign branches. In 2016 the QNB Gr ...

towers from the roof of Istanbul Sapphire File:Sapphire Building 8968.jpg, View from the observation deck of Istanbul Sapphire

References

External links

Istanbul Sapphire (official website)

Pictures of Istanbul Sapphire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapphire Of Istanbul Residential buildings completed in 2009 Residential skyscrapers in Istanbul Skyscrapers in Istanbul Istanbul Central Business District