ODTÜ’DEN JUNIOR

BUILT PROJECT l CONTROLLERSHIP

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Period: 2022

Type/Program: Store

Surface: 86 m2

Location: METU Campus/Ankara, Turkey

Status: Completed

 

ODTÜDEN JUNIOR is a shop where ODTÜ logoed clothing products, toys, brain teasers, and children's books are available for future METU students. It is designed in a 94 m2 shop in the METU bazaar within the campus. The design concept is based on stimulating children's creativity. Pastel colors is preferred in the design. In addition to this, forms with softened edges were used in order to prevent damage to children while they roam freely in the space. Although the main program is the sale of products, the space is equipped with additional programs where children can spend time and workshops can be organized. The space consists of a sales area (68 m2), a reading area (7.5 m2), and an office (18.5 m2). In the sales area of the store, special fixed and mobile sales units were designed considering the product variety of the brand. The units are diversified as shelves, hangers, drawers, and cabinets according to the needs.

The main backbone of the design is the arrangement of round cross-sectioned pipes. It has turned into a pattern on the workshop table and chairs designed in front of the entrance façade where the light leaks in, defining the space of the action. At the same time, by evolving into a lighting element, it also meets the lighting needs of the workshop section. The tables and chairs designed according to children's ergonomics will be the venue for many children's workshops. Pipes are the dominant element of the design by undertaking the carrier duty of the mobile display units. A giant abacus was designed on the sales counter for children to play with while families wait at the cash desk. In addition, the walls are covered with perforated panels. It is expected that the walls will be constructed by the children who visit this place with the toys attached to the panel holes. Thus, the space will change by interacting with every little visitor. In the reading area, the table and sitting poufs are designed as a whole in a way that they can be intertwined.  In order to reinforce children's friendship with the creatures encountered during the day and living on the METU campus, hedgehogs, dogs, foxes, and cats were abstracted and the resulting forms were used as inspiration for tables and poufs.

The facade is designed in round forms and in accordance with the color palette of the concept. While the door is designed with 2 wings, 1 wing of the door is specially designed to allow the little ones to enter. The play equipment designed for the outdoor garden is also abstracted and designed with pipes. It invites the child to explore the possibilities of action without dictating what to do (beyond a slide or swing). This play equipment with unlimited possibilities is located in the garden as part of the interior design.