Project Period: 2015 Area: 1000 m²

Starters Hub is a start-up and incubation office where entrepreneurs, mentors and investors meet. It is one of the first of its type in Istanbul. As start-up ecosystem rely on some myths rooted to the earliest start-ups of Silicon Valley. The imagery of this myth consists of garage look, industrial esthetic and kitsch. 

The space is in the center of Istanbul’s busiest business district called Buyukdere District where a lot of high rise office towers exist. We are asked to convert a computer warehouse to a co-working space for start-ups. 

We converted the offloading area of the warehouse to the main entrance and design the rest of the layout according to this main design decision. Cafeteria, conference room and a small entrance lobby are the first spaces allocated close to the entrance. The rest of the space is an open office with some meeting facilities. 

The architectural language of Starters Hub reflects the industrial esthetic by using some kitchy elements like water pipes as table legs, raw materials like OSB and MDF and grey concrete look paints and floor materials.