International architecture, planning and design consultancy Llewelyn Davies Yeang has won a competition organised by the Greater Istanbul Municipality to masterplan a major transportation route which links the east and west waterfronts of Istanbul to the rest of Turkey.

Ken Yeang will lead the team designing the masterplan.  It is the first major international design competition win for Llewelyn Davies Yeang since Ken Yeang joined the practice last year.  The masterplan involves the creation of a 2 kilometre continuous ecological corridor (with eco bridges) which also serves as a new urban park for the city.  The creation of the corridor will make the area’s biodiversity whole again by linking the mountain and upland ecology to the north with the coastal ecology to the south.  This will greatly enhance the biodiversity of the area. 

The site, which is located between the Kucukcekmece Lake to the north and the Sea of Marmara to the south, had previously been dominated by unplanned development and transport infrastructure.

A range of formal and informal activities are planned, including a dolphinarium, national cultural centre, world ecology biomes, a 1,000 berth marina, new canals, 2 hotels, residential and leisure areas as well as a wide range of new public spaces and beaches.

Other entrants to the competition included Japanese practice Kengo Kuma and Dutch firm MVRDV. 

Ken Yeang, Llewelyn Davies Yeang, commented : “This project is hugely prestigious, especially given the international standing of the other entrants.  We are confident that our scheme will create a new area which has its own distinct identity and is sensitive to the area’s ecology”. 

For further information, please contact Sasha Rifaat s.rifaat@ldavies.com