BODRUM HEALTH FOUNDATION THEARPY CENTER

BALANCE

Approach
Therapy is the pursuit of balance—the search for equilibrium within oneself, with peers, society, and nature. This project aims to architecturally embody this multi-dimensional quest for balance. Greenery, sunlight, and sky are woven together through scale, composition, and materiality. At street level, the weave’s weft is expressed through stone walls, courtyards, and surrounding spaces; at the upper level, its warp emerges in the form of white prisms of varying heights, casting abundant shade in the warm climate.

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Spatial Organization
Life unfolds around three courtyards: the public courtyard facing the entrance, the semi-public courtyard opening to entrance and waiting areas, and the private courtyard for therapy functions. Visitors enter the building via a canopy-covered path between the entrance courtyard, centered on an olive tree, and a water feature, leading to a second courtyard centered on a bay tree. Here, the program conceptually clusters into two: “ordinary” functions (entrance, polyclinic, offices, café) and “therapy” functions. A corridor linking these functions begins with water at the entrance and opens onto the park at the east end. One side of the corridor overlooks the bay tree courtyard, while the other is defined by a stone wall integrating water and landscape. This wall, providing three passages to therapy areas, serves as a dramatic narrative platform, reflecting the historical journey of healing along the Aegean coast. The water accompanying the entrance continues along the “therapy corridor,” overflowing from a “healing basin” and carrying its sound into the interior.

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Therapy functions are arranged around an internal courtyard (the third courtyard). The physiotherapy section faces the street (west), while the hydrotherapy section faces the park (east). The therapy pool terrace can extend outdoors in suitable seasons, a similar possibility provided for treatment pools. The physiotherapy hall offers perspectives to both the landscape within reach and the internal courtyard. Privacy along the street is ensured through landscaping and wooden shutters. Electrotherapy rooms and the yoga-pilates studio are located on the upper floor. The yoga area can extend outdoors to an open terrace. All spaces receive natural light and fresh air either from the façade or the courtyards. Both pool areas, physiotherapy, and walking halls have double-height volumes, illuminated by roof skylights working in conjunction with shading systems.

Polyclinic rooms are positioned near the entrance and oriented toward the northern back garden. Dietitian and psychologist offices are located on the upper floor. Waiting areas cluster around the entrance courtyard. The emergency room is on the right wing, the pain unit on the left wing near the entrance. The café, with indoor and outdoor spaces, engages the public landscape at the street and street intersection. The expanded sidewalk, natural-level amphitheater, and shade structure form a meeting place. The entrance courtyard, café, and amphitheater provide necessary privacy between the entry and public areas.

Administrative units and staff lounges are located on the upper floors of the three-story volume. The office mass provides an active façade facing a potential neighboring building (mosque) on the north side.

The basement, located beneath the therapy-only area, houses staff changing rooms, prayer space, shelter, parking, storage, and workshops. Prayer areas receive daylight through internal light shafts within the recessed structure.

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Materials and Textures
The therapeutic space—an orchestrated ensemble of lines, surfaces, and textures—sequentially integrates earth, wood, water, stone, shade, and human presence. The design draws inspiration from the everyday life and architecture of its locale. At ground level, natural crushed stone is used; prisms are finished with plaster. A concrete texture bridges the stone and plaster. Openings incorporate aluminum frames and wooden shutters. Pavements use cobblestones; interior floors use natural stone sized like wooden flooring. Interior walls feature wood panels and plaster according to acoustic requirements.

Structural System
The building consists of two volumes: axes A-G/1-6 with 1B+GF+1F, and axes H-J/7-14 with GF+2F. The volumes are connected via a terrace roof at +5.00m. The structural system is reinforced concrete, with raft foundations. Basement façades and both sides of elevator/stair cores are reinforced concrete shear walls. The orthogonal grid allows a maximum span of 8.65m. Floor slabs are reinforced concrete with perimeter beams; roof structures over double-height spaces are laminated timber in a cassette system, exposed internally.

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
Insulated building sections, cross-ventilated windows, roof skylights with controlled orientation, internal courtyards shaded by varied-height volumes, and operable shutters minimize reliance on mechanical systems. Heat pumps provide active heating and cooling (including pool water), integrated with underfloor heating in clean-foot areas. Three separate roof areas accommodate external units, while sufficient basement space houses water tanks and other mechanical equipment. Technical rooms serving pools are directly beneath them. Approximately 300 m² of photovoltaic panels are installed on prism roofs.

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Site Context
The site is located at the intersection of Paşadede Street (SE-NW) and Dumlupınar Street to the north. According to the zoning plan, a park lies to the east, a prayer area to the north, and residential buildings to the south. Satellite and aerial imagery show regularly planted saplings in the park area. While the prayer area is currently vacant, the residential area is occupied. The project incorporates the yet-to-be-designed park and prayer area into its design. A mass is proposed for the prayer area, respecting the Qibla orientation and mosque spatial organization. A portion of the park becomes part of the therapy center landscape, preserving existing trees as a grove. A street connecting the park between the mosque and the project is introduced.