Istanbul Culture & Congress Center

The Istanbul Congress Center was delivered to the client, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in 2009 less than 12 months from start of construction. The 12 story building has an enclosed area of 120.680 m² comprised of 7 subterranean levels, 5 above ground floors and 11.200 m² of exterior spaces. The 25.000 person ca-pacity Congress Center has a 3.500 seat auditorium, a separate 600 seat theater, 3.000 m² lounge, 800 car parking garage, a 3 story 31.800 m² multipurpose hall, several large meeting halls 500-1300 m², 11 smaller meeting rooms, 1.000 of-fices, 24 soundproof translator booths, superior telecommunications and security features and can host 850 simultaneous functions. The 3.500 seat Main Auditorium has a 44m clear span steel superstructure and was completed in just 2.5 months. It has hosted the World Bank IMF Summit and the Arab League Summit because of its security and telecom capability. Additional project scope included a 328m long traffic underground tunnel and the separate 600 seat Muhsin Ertugrul Theater, fitted with retractable stage and orchestra pit, featuring state of the art acoustics, sound, lighting and electronics and backstage amenities. Located in the civic urban center of town the project faced numerous construction issues such as environmental, historic fountain renovation, demolition and excavation phasing, sound control, lo-gistics and the impacts of workers` lodging which peaked at 3.600 construction personnel. These impacts were mitigated by TACA`s construction management, procurement, scheduling, advanced construction techniques and integrated worker safety and quality control measures.