Merinos Convention, Congress and Cultural Center

Merinos Convention, Congress Cultural Center
Merinos was an integrated wool textile factory, which was started to be constructed in 1936 completed in only 2 years. The opening of the factory was realized by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on February, 02, 1938.
The factory has a special importance as being one of the few industrial investments of young Republic of Turkey.
The construction mechanical installation of the factory were realized by Germans. It had a capacity of serving on every step of textile ranging from fiber production to ready-made clothing.
The production continued for 50 years until its industrial facility ended in 2000. The factory was transferred to the Privatization Management then.
In 2002-2003 the Metropolitan Municipality of Bursa began to prepare a terrain study for this area. They planned to get back the factory from the Privatization Management in order to create a new public project there.
In 2005 these studies were completed the Municipality issued a project design competition for the planned center. An architectural group won the competition started to study for bringing a new urban identity vision to this area.
When the concept design was completed, a bid was held for the construction of superstructure infrastructure in 2006. GİNTAŞ won the super structure part of the bid for the renovation restoration works new constructions at the complex.
The contract was signed in March 2006 but the construction could not start until August due to the problems of the evacuating the old machine park.
The study of design is still carried on by the project office with the participation of the Municipality.
The project comprises various structures for different activities. The aim of the project is contributing to public life by this valuable area through rehabilitation conservation. The Municipality of Bursa the Chamber of Commerce are funding the project. The conservation board decided to restore 9 buildings demolish the rest.
The site consists of a cultural conventional center, a opera house, museums, public areas a park. The total area is 270000 m2, 130.000 m2 of which being the covered cultural complex. The convention center will be completed in October 2007 the opera house will be completed in 2008 after finalizing the design.

City Hall for Wedding Ceremonies It was once the dining hall of the factory. The complex has 2 storeys with a basement a courtyard.
The renovation project prepared by GİNTAŞ for wedding ceremonies consists of of a main hall, additional halls offices. The courtyard was enlarged the surrounding spaces were planned for commercial purposes such as cafes small shops to be rented. The aim is to make the space active not only for certain occassions but all year long.

Alacarte Restaurant
It was the villa of the factory manager. It is a 2 storey building with a basement garden. Total area is 1050 m2 with 400 people capacity. The basement was reinforced o the roof was replaced the. The interventions were kept in minimum. The partition walls were demolished a terrace a summer garden were added.

Ticking Off House The factory ticking off house will be reconstructed as a tea house. It was preserved for its suspended roof system. The original roof will be implemented as it once was.

The Fiber Factory Its floor plan is 36.000 m2. The basement alone is 31850 m2. It will be the convention cultural center. The basement will be used as car park with 1000 vehicles capacity for the cultural convention center the opera house. The old Merinos factory includes some units that supports social life such as conservatory, art galleries, libraries museums. During the restoration, the original integrity was preserved. Inner zones were equipped with the necessary technologies industrial construction system was preferred instead of traditional construction. Western entrance west-eastern axes were taken as base while working on the Merinos factory. This axe is creating a new path integrating the city cultural center.
The structure is reinforced concrete with a roof system of North light trusses. The roofing will be resurfaced. The main axial will be demolished to form a new transparent roof. The inner space is planned to be lightened there will be as much open spaces as possible. The materials will be flexible like demontable partition walls, transparent or grid system suspended ceilings. The façade will be more formal by stone ventilated application.
The 3-storey part will be a museum for the history of the factory textile production. The construction projects are still being prepared by the project office. The turbin building will be energy museum. The cooling tower will be a cafe.

The Opera House
It will be a new construction adjacent to the factory. It is designed as a modern building with new technology of smart building systems. Total area is 45100 m2. It comprises a theatre for opera with the capacity for 1800 people, ball rooms for 1000 people, foyer saloons conference halls, art galleries, etc. The center will correspond to cultural social needs of city. The building is close to east façade of the factory with a modern design including the latest tecnologies.

It is a remarkable project for Turkey in urbanistic rehabilitation studies. As the site takes place in the heart of the city, it will be a multifunctional public area to meet all the necessities of the social life of Bursa. After the completion of the project we believe Bursa will gain a universal city park.