Istanbul Sapphire, or Sapphire, is a

residential A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

located in the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center 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 wit ...

Levent Levent is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 2,911 (2022). It is one of the main business districts of Istanbul located on the European side of the city. It is situated ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. 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 or ...

, it is a shopping and luxury residence

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

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 the 284-meter-tall twin towers of

Skyland İstanbul Skyland İstanbul is a mixed-use skyscraper complex located in the Seyrantepe neighborhood of Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey. The complex consists of three towers: a 284-meter office tower with 65 floors, a residential tower of equal height with 6 ...

located adjacent to

Türk Telekom Stadium Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi (commonly known as Ali Sami Yen Stadium), branded as Rams Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium serving as the home ground of the Süper Lig club Galatasaray. It is located in the Seyrantepe quarter of th ...

in the Seyrantepe quarter of the

Sarıyer Sarıyer () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 177 km2 and its population is 350,454 (2022). It is on the northeastern part of Istanbul's European side. Sarıyer al ...

district, on the European side, and the 280-meter-tall

Metropol Istanbul Tower Metropol İstanbul is a mixed-use skyscraper complex in Ertuğrul in the Ataşehir district on the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey. The complex consists of three towers, a residential tower (150 m), an office tower (150 m) and a main tower (280 m ...

in the

Ataşehir Ataşehir is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey. Its area is 25 km2, and its population is 423,127 (2022). It is located at the junction of the Otoyol 2, O-2 and Otoyol 4, O-4 motorways on the Anato ...

district on the Asian side of the city.

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. 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 or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

strait. Istanbul Sapphire is the tallest skyscraper on the left. File:Ido2.JPG, A catamaran Seabus 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 in the municipality and district of Beykoz, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 3,943 (2022). It is on the Asian side of the Bosphorus strait. It is known for a yogurt sprinkled with Sucrose#Caster, caster suga ...

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. Founded by the orders of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1924, it is the first bank to go into operation in the Turkey, Republic of Türkiye. As of a late 2023 report, the b ...

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 ...

and

Finansbank QNB Türkiye was a Turkish bank with headquarters in Istanbul. It was established by Turkish financier Hüsnü Özyeğin in 1987 and for a period was the Turkish bank with the largest network of foreign branches. Its Turkish operations were purch ...

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 Skyscrapers in Istanbul Buildings and structures in Istanbul Buildings and structures completed in 2009 Residential buildings completed in 2009 Residential skyscrapers in Istanbul Istanbul Central Business District 21st-century architecture in Turkey