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CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES AND BUILDING MATERIALS OF A 19TH CENTURY

OFFICIAL STRUCTURE IN ISTANBUL: ADJACENT OFFICES OF OTTOMAN BANK
AND THE REGIE COMPANY

Conference Paper · January 2015

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CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES AND BUILDING MATERIALS OF A
19TH CENTURY OFFICIAL STRUCTURE IN ISTANBUL: ADJACENT
OFFICES OF OTTOMAN BANK AND THE REGIE COMPANY

Yegan Kahya Sayar1, Işıl Polat Pekmezci 2, and Ayşegül Özer3

Keywords
19th Century, Facades, Masonry, Aléxandre Vallaury, Istanbul, Ottoman Architecture.
Abstract
The historical structure designed for the use of Ottoman Bank and the Regie Company is lo-
cated in Galata; one of the old districts of Istanbul. The building is an impressive structure stand-
ing on an important commercial street of the 19th century today named as “Bankalar Caddesi”.
The street name can be translated as “Banks Street” which may reference its commercial identi-
ty. The building has also become one of the significant elements of the silhouette of Galata by
the Golden Horn after its construction. The masonry structure is one singular rectangular build-
ing designed for the use of two offices by architect Aléxandre Vallaury and historical sources
indicate the opening date of the building as 1892. The building has two identical entrances for
two companies. The eastern half of the building, served as Ottoman Bank for long years, has
been owned by another bank company (Garanti Bank) since 1996. After the building changed
hands, the usage of this part was replanned dominantly for cultural purposes such as Museum of
Ottoman Bank, library, conference and movie halls etc. giving the visitors the opportunity to ob-
serve the historical installations of the building for instance; big metal bank safes. The eastern
part has undergone an intensive restoration in 2009 and is now being used as a cultural center.
The western part has owned and been used as the Istanbul Branch of Central Bank of Turkey
since 1934. The restoration of this part is still in progress.
The restoration works related to both parts of the building has been conducted with a univer-
sal understanding of conservation and scientific approach. The detailed surveys are prepared us-
ing advanced instrumental techniques and methods. The materials and deteriorations are deter-
mined by analytical surveys on elevations and sections. The structural condition of the structure
is investigated by a scientific team. The original building materials are analyzed in the conserva-
tion laboratory for their characterization in order to design the repair materials. Archival research
was conducted for the restitution and chronological analysis. The decisions for the conservation
of the building are then determined. This paper aims to identify the building techniques and
building materials of the facades in detail by the support of all the research completed above.

1
Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul TURKEY, kahya@itu.edu.tr
2
Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul TURKEY, polatisil@itu.edu.tr
3
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki GREECE, ozer.architecture@gmail.com

5th International Congress on Construction History

Construction Techniques And Building Materials of a 19th Century Official Structure in Istanbul: Adjacent Offices
of Ottoman Bank And The Regie Company

INTRODUCTION
Aléxandre Vallaury, a conspicuous architect of late Ottoman Empire was born in 1850 in Is-
tanbul. He completed his architectural education in Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris between 1868
and 1879. After his education, he has returned to Istanbul. At the beginning of his career, he has
contributed with his drawings to exhibitions that mostly architectural surveys are presented. His
first design was the Ottoman Imperial School of Fine Arts which first opened its doors in 1883.
He also became one of the first lecturers of the institution where he has continued teaching until
1908 for nearly 25 years. Most of his important works in Istanbul was completed during 1883-
1909 which wouldn’t be wrong if called as the most productive period of his career. He gained a
significant reputation after the completion of the adjacent offices of Ottoman Bank and the Regie
Company in 1892 (Akpolat 1991).
The establishment of the Ottoman Bank was needed in order to overcome the lack of the fi-
nancial sources and to structure the incomes of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Bank has
started its activities with the support of French and English on 13 June 1856 in St. Pierre Inn lo-
cated in Galata – the same neighbourhood with the forthcoming bank building (Eldem 1997).
The first serious attempt for the construction of a new office building for the bank has been
the proposal to purchase the half of the plot owned by the Regie Company, written in the letter
by the general manager of the Bank to one of the committee members in Paris dated 7 February
1890 (Yıldıran 1993). As a consequence by the approval of the committees in Paris and London,
the construction of a new building for the Ottoman Bank was decided and Alexandre Vallaury
was assigned as the architect. The drawings of the floor plans and the entrance façade produced
and signed by the architect dated to 3-4 September 1890 may be found in the archives of the Ot-
toman Bank (Eldem 1997), (Figure 1-2). The existing building has an atrium visually connecting
the upper floors. This differentiation may show that these drawings might not belong to the final
design. The part of the construction that will be used by the Ottoman Bank was completed in
1892 and that section was opened by a ceremony on 26 May 1892 (Le Moniteur Oriental, 1892)
whereas the western part that is used by the Regie Company is known to be opened on 16 July
1892. (BEO 33-2402, 15.7.1892)
The office building of Ottoman Bank and the Regie Company is located in the Galata quarter
of Beyoğlu district in Istanbul. The street where the building is located is called Bankalar Street
(former Voyvoda Street) and it houses lots of important commercial buildings.
Before 1840, the important buildings of Istanbul were mainly mosques, complexes, covered
bazaars and palaces while Galata had a modest appearance with its narrow streets and small-
sized buildings. On the contrary, Galata and Pera (a neighboring district) has shown a fast en-
largement and with the construction of commercial buildings, schools, embassies, theaters,
churches and apartments, visually looked similar to a European city at the end of the 19th centu-
ry. Galata is also the first region of Istanbul in which a municipality organization in modern
terms was established in 1857 based on the Paris model (Akın, 1998).

5th International Congress on Construction History

 Y. Kahya Sayar, I. Polat Pekmezci, and A. Özer

THE BUILDING
The building realized as one single structure from the exterior was designed for two different
institutions and functionally used by this way since its construction. The building has two identi-
cal entrances for two companies. The east part of the rectangular shaped structure was used by
Ottoman Bank and the west part was used by the Regie Company at the beginning.

Figure 1: Plans of the Ottoman Bank Office by Aléxandre Vallaury (Eldem 1997).

Figure 2: North Façade drawing of the adjacent offices by Aléxandre Vallaury (Eldem 2000).

5th International Congress on Construction History

Construction Techniques And Building Materials of a 19th Century Official Structure in Istanbul: Adjacent Offices
of Ottoman Bank And The Regie Company

The building has a total of 6 floors with 2 basement floors. In 1986 there had been an addi-
tion of an upper floor and a mezzanine floor in to the building. The plan is functional. Both
halves of the building have similar plan schemes. Ground, first and second floors has a visual
connection with a richly decorated atrium. The variations in the styles of columns and parapets
around the galleries provide the richness. The atrium is surrounded by corridors on three sides
and the offices do open to these corridors. All the stairs connecting the upper floors, has monu-
mental dimensions. The building was registered as a monument in 1969 (Kahya, 2012).
Facades
The materials used on the facades of the structure have been the subject of two technical re-
ports. First report has been completed during the renovation of the eastern part in 2008 (Ersen
and Verdön, 2008) and the second report was prepared for the renovation works of the western
part in 2011 (Ersen and Polat-Pekmezci, 2011). The samples taken from different levels of the
facades has been examined in the laboratories and their properties were determined.
The north-east façade facing the main street has monumental features. Two identical entranc-
es to the companies are located on this neo classical façade. This entrance façade has designed
successfully giving the impression of stability by the use of stone as a main building element.
The dressed large blocks, columns, pediments, large solid wooden entrance doors, ottoman style
wrought iron bars on the ground level windows all support this impression. (Figure 3) The main
materials that have been used on this façade were lime stone and marble. The half basement and
ground floor level is constructed by black colored lime stone and marble. The dressed lime
stones are mainly used at these levels and marble is only used around the windows, at the first
floor cornice and the basement cornice. The upper floors are made of micritic yellow colored
lime stone. (Figure 4)
The opposite façade of the building facing the Golden Horn has a totally different design
concept. The building has an impressive view creating an impressive contribution to the Golden
horn silhouette. The large eaves supported by timber buttresses, timber cladded projections on
both sides on the 3rd floor and the baroque wavy finishing cornice on the façade are might be
seen as the elements of Ottoman architecture. (Figure 5).
There have been many opinions on Vallaury’s choice in creating building with two different
styles: neoclassical view from the Bankalar Caddesi and the eclectic view from Golden Horn. In
many of these comments starting idea was that it was Vallury’s initial plan to design the building
in this way, referring to west on the street side and referring to the east on the Golden Horn side.
During the consolidation and restoration works of the eastern part façades in 2014, highly
damaged timber claddings on the Golden Horn Façade were removed from the timber structural
frame. After the partial removal of the claddings, an earlier façade was revealed on the fourth
floor. The former façade was a double walled structure similar to the entrance façade: internal
wall consisted of brick and lime mortar; external wall consisted of limestone cladding and lime
mortar. Lime stone wall was integrated to the brick wall with cast iron clamps. Material dimen-
sions and techniques were matching with the other originally implemented walls of the building.
Other timber parts were interpreted and it is understood that the limestone façade structure was
continuing behind the overalls without any changes in other floors.

5th International Congress on Construction History

 Y. Kahya Sayar, I. Polat Pekmezci, and A. Özer

Figure 3: The entrance façade 1890-1910 (Archives of German Archaeological Institute-Istanbul Reference
No:R28917) (left) Figure 4: Material analysis of north east façade ( Western part)

Figure 5: The Golden Horn façade (Servet-i Fünun magazine, 11 August 1892)

In addition, the timber extension of the 4th floor was created by adding a metal system help-
ing to be hanged from the top of the double leafed wall and was simply anchored to the lime-
stone masonry on the lower levels. (Figure 5) These iron clamps were different than the rest
found on this floor. These details arouse the thoughts that the timber parts of this facade might be
later additions rather than being original.

5th International Congress on Construction History

Construction Techniques And Building Materials of a 19th Century Official Structure in Istanbul: Adjacent Offices
of Ottoman Bank And The Regie Company

Figure 5: Detail of the timber structure attached to the masonry wall at the 4th floor(Courtesy of Alpek İnşaat)
Figure 6: View of the timber structure attached to the masonry wall at the 4th floor

The two other facades have simpler designs if compared to previously described facades.
(Figure 7-Figure 8) Mostly plastered facades however present the usage of artificial stone details
at window sills and cornices between floors. The artificial stone technique that has been started
to be used on the facades on the second half of the 19th century in Europe and the States is also
can be seen on the facades of the late 19th- early 20th century constructions in Istanbul (Ersen,
2000). Vallaury has preferred this very new technology to natural stone on the relatively less im-
portant facades of the building probably for logistical and economic reasons. (Figure 9) Another
interesting detail related to the façade structure is the ventilation holes located on the façades.
(Figure 10) At the beginning, this ventilation holes thought to be a part of the heating system but
during the examination of the whole heating system, no smoke flow was observed by this holes.
This ventilation holes might be either placed for the ventilation of the double-leafed wall con-
struction or the ventilation of the area between the suspended ceilings and the original ceilings.

CONCLUSIONS
Studying the facades in detail shows that the building has a hierarchy in the design of the fa-
cades. The main entrance façade and the façade facing the Golden Horn were designed with
highly decorative features while the other side facades facing narrow roads kept simple in de-
sign.

5th International Congress on Construction History

 Y. Kahya Sayar, I. Polat Pekmezci, and A. Özer

Figure 7: The west façade (left), Figure 8: The east façade (right)

Figure 9: Artificial stone window sill detail- west façade, 2nd floor (left), Figure 10: The ventilation detail on the 1st
floor (right)

We can also see the hierarchy in the material use. Natural lime stone and marble which are
relatively expensive materials than plasters has been preferred on the entrance façade to establish
a powerful and stabilized image. Plaster coverings and artificial stone elements are used on the
less important facades which has no intention to be a part of a silhouette. This may be seen as a
result of the concerns of the architect on economic aspects.
On the other hand, timber has been used as a material to introduce the features of ottoman
architecture to the Golden Horn façade which has a totally different concept than the entrance
façade. The restoration works revealed that the timber extensions were later additions hung to a
former masonry wall construction.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are grateful for the contribution of Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ersen who has been the co-
ordinator for the characterization of the materials and the design of repair materials of the build-
ing, and who has passed away in May, 2014. His memory will always be by our side.

5th International Congress on Construction History

 Construction Techniques And Building Materials of a 19th Century Official Structure in Istanbul: Adjacent Offices
of Ottoman Bank And The Regie Company

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