Grimshaw has been commissioned by the Vehbi Koç Foundation to develop designs for the Sadberk Hanim Museum in Istanbul.

The museum opened in 1980 as Turkey’s first private museum, housing the foundation’s collection of Turkish Islamic and archaeological works and artefacts dating from 6000 BC.

To accommodates its growing collection and enhanced vision, the museum is being relocated from its current home on the Bosphorus to a listed building in a historical shipyard on the Golden Horn, a fast developing cultural and commercial district.

The new museum, set to open in 2023, will strengthen its position as one of the most important attractions of Istanbul’s cultural life, and in addition to the adaption of the listed building, the scheme will also feature a new building and a public event space in between.

Alongside the world-class exhibitions and conservation programmes will be a series of supporting facilities, including an academic research platform, education programme, and a multifunction auditorium for performance and conferences.

The project is part of the Tersane Masterplan development which regenerates a former industrial area of coastline to create a new cultural destination for the city, with a mix of uses including hotels, housing, offices and leisure alongside a new marina.

The commission represents the next chapter in an ongoing collaboration between Grimshaw and the Vehbi Koç Foundation, following Arter Contemporary Art Museum → which opened in the nearby Dolapdere district in summer 2019.