The penthouse floor with a 1.600m2 floor area, 5 meter ceiling height and 6 elevators belongs to a single-family, who recently moved in after a two-year architectural development by Caglayan Tugal.

The brief of the residence was to create a living interior inspired by the glamorous living period between 16th and 18th centuries. Therefore, despite the contemporary steel and glass structure of the exterior, the image of the residence interior has been transformed to announce a splendid and distinct lifestyle for the clients.

Advents to the renowned residence are by elevators that open to a grand foyer. The articulated design of this entrance hall is a metaphor for the theme of the entire house.

When Mr.Tugal began to work on this project in 2000, no walls were present except the skeletal structure of the building, and this granted the freedom to create each volume of space as desired by building new walls, additional columns, arcades and thresholds.

Floor-to-ceiling windows perimeter the house and allow astonishing panoramas of the city. The different types of vaults are a remarkable tribute to the architecture of the old Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.

After completing all the mechanical and electrical installations, Mr.Tugal started to work on the interior decorations. He hired Italian painters to coat the walls with 16th century cloth designs. He traveled to the antique stores in Paris, Belgium and Istanbul to choose furniture representative of the 16th and 18th century decorations.

The drama starting with the foyer and connecting to the rest of the home is played up with the marble flooring.A distinguished trio of rosso, boticino and cafe imperial marble graces the floors of the elegant foyer and the intriguing hallways. The marble combination reappaers in the living room in addition to the merbau plain strip flooring.

Light is orchestrated with great care and all the lighting elements interplay with the furniture to create unique spaces. All the wall fixtures have been specially designed and custom-made in Turkey. In order to prevent view blockage, the windows have been drapered with silk tafetta curtains.

The living room has a bar and an entertaining section for throwing special parties. The bar has been designed by Caglayan Tugal and it has been painted with golden-leaves in a contemporary manner. The bathroom behind the bar is for the guests and it has been seperated from the living room with a time-worn lacework iron curtain.

The cream-finished walls serve as a canvas for the client’s powerful fine art collection of famous Turkish, European and Russian painters.

The 16th century Ottoman kilim designs on the ceiling,also painted by the Italians give the dining room it’s charming ambiance.The bronze chandelier with rock crystals has been purchased from Paris and it is a 18th century fabrication.

A majorly stunning part of the residence is the tranquil study room with the library and the pool table. Here, there is a steel constructed loft for more bookcases and a winding stairway. The tight hallway next to the stairs is to pass to the study section.

For the master’s bedroom, Mr. Tugal has chosen the furniture from antique stores in Europe. The bed covering, fashioned from silk instills the room with an elegant atmosphere.

Across from the bed, there is a major painting on the wall painted in 18.century, anonymous and it was bought from Belgium.

The spacious master bathroom has boticino and galaxy star marble flooring accompanied with teal plain-strips.The mirror and the sinks were custom-made and curtains were produced from silk taffeta to allow for a panoramic view of Istanbul from the jacuzzi. Another spectacular view from one of the guest rooms welcomes the fascinated visitors.

Caglayan Tugal’s vision for the new residence harmonized with the clients – both sought a blended Ottoman and Byzantine interior stylized for an exquisite lifestyle. The entire design and the details built with intense care reflect the charming aura of the specific period between the 16th and 18th centuries.In addition, all the decorational elements work in concert with the major theme which makes the residence a triumphant work of architecture that transcends it’s references.