Bronze Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2025
HG Holding Headquarters Office and Conference Halls
by Cihat Elmas - Quark Studio Architects
- A' Design Award 2025 Bronze Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Halil Gursoy Saglık Hizmetleri
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 11,103
- Verification code 808D1A93E2 · Verify this award
About HG Holding Headquarters Office and Conference Halls
Challenging the often sterile perception of institutional architecture, the HG Administration Building in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, presents a compelling case for warmth and human connection within a functional framework. Spanning 1,790 square meters across four levels, the design consciously moves beyond conventional office aesthetics, aiming to create a welcoming and productive environment for staff and visitors. This emphasis on a comfortable and engaging atmosphere permeates the architectural decisions, shaping everything from spatial organization to the nuanced selection of materials.
Quark Studio Architects's headquarters complex engages contemporary architectural discourse surrounding material authenticity, environmental performance, and the phenomenological experience of institutional buildings within landscape settings, demonstrating how rigorous geometric discipline can coexist with warmth and accessibility through strategic deployment of natural materials and carefully choreographed lighting. The compositional achievement lies in the successful resolution of competing programmatic and formal demands: the vertical tower element establishes institutional presence and urban legibility while the horizontal wing creates approachable human scale at ground level, and the timber brise-soleil system mediates between these expressions by providing unifying textural warmth that tempers the cool precision of the glazed curtain wall, suggesting engagement with architectural traditions valuing the integration of building skin as both environmental regulator and expressive surface. The fenestration strategy demonstrates technical sophistication through its layered approach, with the outer timber screen modulating solar gain and glare while providing visual privacy without sacrificing connection to exterior views, and the inner glazing plane maximizing daylight penetration and transparency, creating an interstitial zone that functions climatically while enriching spatial experience through the play of filtered light and shadow across interior surfaces throughout the daily solar cycle. The chromatic restraint evident in the material palette, limiting expression to the warm honey tones of natural timber, the neutral cool grays of composite cladding, and the transparency of glass, allows the architecture to foreground tectonic relationships and proportional refinement rather than relying on applied color for visual interest, demonstrating confidence in the expressive capacity of material properties and light modulation alone. The landscape integration, particularly the soft foreground buffer of flowering plants providing chromatic accent and textural contrast to architectural geometries, suggests awareness of how buildings engage their sites not as isolated objects but as elements within larger ecological and visual systems, the lavender plantings potentially evoking regional landscape traditions while performing practical functions of stormwater management and microclimate amelioration. The twilight capture moment proves particularly revelatory, as the transitional lighting condition between day and night activates the building's multiple surface conditions differently, with interior illumination transforming the glazing into luminous planes that reveal spatial depth while the timber screen becomes a glowing lantern element, demonstrating how architectural design increasingly considers the building's nocturnal presence as equally significant to its daytime appearance. The work invites viewers to consider how institutional architecture might balance the competing imperatives of professional dignity and human welcome, environmental responsibility and aesthetic ambition, technological precision and material warmth, and how the careful calibration of transparency, opacity, and filtered light can create workplaces that support both focused concentration and collaborative exchange while maintaining visual and physical connection to landscape and seasonal cycles.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Challenging the often-sterile perception of institutional architecture, the HG Holding Headquarters in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, presents a compelling case for warmth and human connection within a functional framework. Spanning 1,790 square meters across four levels, the design consciously moves beyond conventional office aesthetics, aiming to create a welcoming and productive environment for staff and visitors. This emphasis on a comfortable and engaging atmosphere permeates the architectural decisions, shaping everything from spatial organisation to the nuanced selection of materials.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The building boasts a total build size of 1,790 sqm, accommodating a range of services, including 4 workstation rooms,4 conference halls with a pre-function area, a meeting room, a secured management area, and open layout waiting areas with access to refreshments.
- Tags
- furniture design, office design, office architecture, interior design, facade design
- Production Technology
- The project is currently being built and the structure is made of a concrete system. The facade is covered by glass walls and aluminum composition.
- Design Challenge
- Moving beyond purely functional considerations, the architectural approach actively integrates principles of user-centred design. The conscious departure from stark, clinical aesthetics acknowledges the psychological effects of such environments, often associated with anxiety and detachment. Instead, the emphasis on warmer tones and natural materials directly references theories in colour psychology, where earthier hues and the introduction of natural elements are linked to feelings of comfort, security, and reduced stress. While direct access to extensive biophilic elements might be limited within this administrative context, the incorporation of natural oak textures and the carefully considered colour palette serve as subtle nods to biophilic design principles, aiming to foster a connection with nature and promote a sense of calm.
- Project Duration
- The project started in 2024 in Kahramanmars, Turkey and it's still ongoing.
- Operation Flow
- The architectural form of the HG Holding Headquarters embodies a contemporary sensibility, characterized by a considered dialogue between clean, straight lines and gentle curves. This interplay is evident in both the overall massing and the internal spatial arrangements.
Within the administrative offices, an open-plan layout organized around a clear grid system promotes efficiency and visual connectivity. The reception area is thoughtfully designed as a transitional space, its sleek reception desk set against a calming blue backdrop, offering a serene point of arrival. This deliberate combination of structured organization and softer forms contributes to an environment that feels both functional and inviting. - Research
- Central to the building's welcoming character is its carefully curated material palette. Eschewing the often-clinical palette of institutional spaces, the design embraces a range of textures and tones carefully chosen to engage the senses and promote a feeling of well-being.
Within the administrative offices, the subtle variation in grey carpet tones serves not only to delineate individual workspaces within the open plan but also introduces a tactile softness underfoot, contributing to a more comfortable and less sterile environment for daily tasks. Conversely, the vibrant, patterned carpet in the conference halls injects a sense of energy and dynamism, visually distinguishing this space and fostering a more engaging atmosphere for collaborative events. - Inspiration
- The design program unfolds through a deliberate organization of its internal functions, carefully considering the flow of users and the specific needs of each zone. This strategic distribution of programs across the building's four levels is not just about compartmentalization; rather, it's a considered hierarchy of spaces designed to enhance operational efficiency while subtly influencing the user's journey and perception of the environment.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Designer, Quark Studio Architects
Image #2: Designer, Quark Studio Architects
Image #3: Designer, Quark Studio Architects
Image #4: Designer, Quark Studio Architects
Image #5: Designer, Quark Studio Architects - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Quark Studio Architects, 2025
Colors of HG Holding Headquarters Office and Conference Halls
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G0E23 ShopDesign Interview about HG Holding Headquarters Office and Conference Halls
The design’s major objective was to make sure the work environment was human-focused and supportive. By seeking to break away from plain institutional settings, the project includes warm materials, a user-friendly arrangement of space and great attention to users’ well-being.
We wanted to create a pleasant place where people could have a great experience using the service, while also making the service more efficient. We tried to blend both practicality and aesthetics in our design, feeling that every part of the building should help members of the staff feel calmness, understand their surroundings and feel related to others who work there.
Because the design matches what HG Holding looks for, we believe its approach can be used for projects seeking to improve the atmosphere in different sectors. What we have learned in this course will always shape the focus on well-being and use of senses in our future architectural designs.
It took about six months to move from the first concepts to the final stage of planning every detail. We joined forces with the client during this period to guarantee that every design aspect matched their expectations and how they would use the spaces.
HG Holding asked Cardinal for a design and we worked closely with them to ensure the facility met their business and cultural needs. We considered it a way to fulfill our main philosophy—designing offices that focus on people and their feelings.
The design was made just for HG Holding and is currently being used by the company as their headquarters. The design is not being reproduced or leased, as it was a perfect fit for the client’s characteristics, what they did and where they were situated.
Our desire to change typical office architecture in settings related to institutions and healthcare pushed us forward. As part of the design, we thought about ways to make a work setting feel more uplifting and human for employees.
Cihat Elmas Mimarlık and our studio, Quark Studio Architects, joined efforts to design the project. Bringing our two design teams together made sure we kept the project’s focus on people while also having a design that worked and stayed consistent.
Private client Dr. Halil Gürsoy, who is also Chairman of the Board at HG Holding, is the target customer for this design. The design was created carefully to match the boss’s vision for a headquarters that demonstrates the company’s values and provides a comfortable and effective place for all who visit or work there.
Unlike most offices, this design centers on making people feel comfortable and respected in a corporate environment. Thanks to its well-chosen materials, structured space and small touches of nature, the interior looks appealing and makes everything more convenient for users.
The project name, HG Holding Headquarters, is based on the client firm’s name, HG Holding, since it is the central office of the company. The initials HG are also an abbreviation for Dr. Halil Gürsoy, the Chairman of the Board, making the building personal to the client and its leaders.
In this project, we worked with AutoCAD, Cinema4D, V-Ray, Photoshop and InDesign to meet all our needs.
The special thing about our design is that it emphasizes designing a pleasant environment that feels human-friendly in a corporate office. The use of tactile products, good colors and organizing the spaces well encourages good emotions without getting in the way of how the space works.
Many specialists joined us to help create this project. For example, we relied on a leading company in mechanical engineering for our ventilation and Ofisline, one of Turkey’s biggest furniture producers, for our office and conference hall items.
Technology is important for improving how the building works and feels to those using it. A smart system for IDs is used to control entrance, advanced ventilation is set up to improve the air quality throughout and a main data center manages all media and communication inside.
We did consider research on how people respond to different healthcare and design environments. We examined how the client operates and works in the area to design the space and select materials that improve both function and mood.
How to give a busy corporate and healthcare-focused building an inviting and warm design was something they had to consider carefully. It was also necessary to arrange the different parts of the program at all levels in a way that preserved clear and easy access.
We entered the design in an international contest to display our care for people and the new ways well-being is applied in company buildings. It was important to the project because it helped us get more recognition and influence other similar projects abroad.
Through the project, we better understood how what we see and hear can directly affect user wellness in such environments. Doing so helped us simultaneously fulfill the practical uses and address the needs of both feelings and senses, making our architectural designs better for people.
A key feature is that this project demonstrates our desire to design architecture that considers both emotion and functionality for its users. We consider this way of thinking crucial for future, eco-friendly design.
Grand Interview about HG Holding Headquarters Office and Conference Halls
When it comes to the creation of HG Holding Headquarters, we were helped by the desire to reinvent the way an institutional workspace should feel like a sterile utilitarian spot, transforming it into a more human and caring place. To accomplish this task, we started by examining the spatial experiences on mood, productivity and communication at the workplace. Instead of using common cold materials or box-like typologies of offices, we selected an expressive material palette composed of naturally textural oak, plush fabrics, warm light, and color scheme of the building, in neutral and earthy tones.Functional zoning was also important. We created a layered but permeable organization of space that guides the users intuitively between various zones, which start with the lively community-oriented potion of pharmacy on the ground floor and move into the more intensive and confidential administrative offices higher up. This tendency to treat every area in accordance with a particular atmosphere was implemented using the conference halls adorned with the dynamic patterned carpeting to enable collaboration and with a more soothing finish of the administrative zones that helps to concentrate.
The hierarchy in space of the HG Holding Headquarters was influenced by profound knowledge about the operational requirements of the building and our intentions to develop user experience by achieving intuitive circulation. Vertical plan of the building honour of the building was treated like a layered narrative in the sense that each level plays a specific role towards something that was a whole. A reasonable rationality based on functional logic and the human behavior patterns in such an institutional and office environment was the foundation of such a decision-making process.We started with the most public and dynamic areas as the pharmacy and the main entrance, which are available at the ground floor with easy access to the community and visitors. On top of that, administrative offices would be located on the first floor to establish a more concentrated, peaceful work environment. The offices were intended to promote collaboration along with a professional detachment, with the help of soft finishes and an open-plan design. We put the logistical and support functions below ground level. The level B1 was devoted to storage and work operations in order to maintain back-of-house operations discreet and efficient. The level where the conference halls are located, i.e., the B2 one, was specifically located in the less noise-active area, so that the halls would pose the least possible disturbance to the stability and provide a feeling of separation, contributing to the intensive concentration on the meetings and the presentation.
The palette was chosen very carefully to create the slightly warm, slightly professional picture. We have shunned away the cold clamminess of clinical finishes and adopted the warm wood finishes, such as natural oak, soft brown varnish, beige wall claddings and subdued earthy tones. The choice of these materials was not solely based on their aestheticism but also aimed at the experience they could allow visitors to feel, such as a sense of stillness, familiarity, and emotional ease, which we believe are not prominent enough in institutional architecture.We have simultaneously made sure that the space preserved some air of formality and consistency by balancing such cosy elements with such high-contrast materials as Statuario white marble and dark grey flooring. This counterplay gave the spaces a grounding and a sense of beauty so that the spaces appeared to be composed but not too relaxed. This leads to the creation of an atmosphere that is conducive to concentration and professionalism, but at the same time, appealing emotionally and taking into consideration the work of the human element.
All these clean lines paired with soft curves were done consciously to emphasize the duality of the place: strictly built and effective on the one hand, but cosy and open on the other hand. Neat, geometrical shapes create the feeling of structure and readability, which is vital to the wayfinding and setting a professional tone in a complex program. These aspects endorse the functional requirements of the building and showcase a feeling of confidence and stability in the identity of the organization.To make this starkness less pronounced and bring a more welcoming quality to it, we incorporated the slight roundness and curvature into such items as circulation areas, the reception space and some architectural parts. The curved motions interrupt the monotony, promote a more natural movement and develop a more human and flowing rhythm of space. Combinations of this interaction contribute to making the users feel rooted, but at the same time welcome enough to enjoy the psychological comfort of the space without giving up its professional intent.
We relied strongly on color psychology and biophilic design concepts in order to antidote the sterility commonly related to institutional buildings. The colors used were warm and earthy, such as olive green, brownish-orange and natural beige, as the most likely to attract an association of calmness, security, and friendliness. These colors are associated with lessening stress and creation of the sense of familiarity, which we decided are important emotional reactions we would like the users to have when they enter the building.Despite the fact that big integration of natural elements was not applicable in the site, we implemented the principles of biophilia by using natural oak, white marble as a daylight reflecting material as well as by using natural stones and wooden panels to add brightness. These small nods towards nature are used to enable customers to associate themselves with organic materials and colors, contributing to their well-being in an unconscious yet strong manner. The outcome is a working environment that is lively and emotionally aware not only functional.
The design of the carpet was also one of the instruments with the help of which the imprints of space structure and even mood were formed. In administrative offices, we deployed modified soft grey carpets to create various working areas on an open floor plan. This assisted in establishing some quiet order and the feeling of visual connection without the physical barriers, and contributed to a collaborative yet concentrated atmosphere.Patterned more vivid carpeting can be found, instead, in the conference halls to spice the area up and associate it with conversation and small group communication. This visual change is not only an improvement in the space identity, but also in the behavior, creating more vibrant and interactive approach to meetings. Such manipulations serve as intuitive orientation providing users with the orientation within the building and at the same time adding a gentle emphasis to the rationale of each of the zones.
The concrete structural system is a form of strong and robust frame, on which the building is anchored to offer the required support both to the decorative and practical requirements. Substantiality is set against light and transparent walls made of glass, the composition produces the sense of dynamism that illustrates one of the identities of the building- stable and open.In order to provide a seamless integration, we collaborated with structural and façade engineers, whom we engaged to elaborate on the connections of the elements of concrete, glass, and aluminum panels. The aluminum composite is used as a modern and clean accessory to encapsulate and hold the glazing in places and allow natural light to flow into the interiors. This is a combination that meets technical needs, in addition to strengthening the architectural discourse of transparency, warmth, and professionalism.
In our design, the following are some of the important factors to achieve good health and reduce stress. Warm experimental materials such as soft textures and oak help the person to feel good in the environment and are familiar again like what can be found in institutions which are cold. A considerate choice of coloring, including earth colors and relaxing elements, contributes to emotional balance and makes people less anxious.Space-wise, our offices have an open plan with good lines of vision to promote teamwork but at the same time a few quiet areas where workers can concentrate and strike a good balance between socialization and solitude. This creates a better mood and energy absorption level through the infusion of natural light via large glass walls. All of that, in combination, fosters not only productivity but psychological comfort as it is understood that an employee-friendly workspace is a key component of employee health.
There was a particular reason why the blue background of the reception was adopted to provide a soothing and pleasant transitional effect on the visitors and the staff. In color psychology, blue is popularly known to produce a sense of trust, calmness, and stability, the three traits that are significant in a professional environment where first impressions count a lot.The calmness of this color also gives a contrast on the warm hues that have been applied in or around the building, it gives a moment of rest that can help orient the visitors upon entering. Together with a minimalistic, streamlined style reception desk, we have created a similar effect of ambience that is both friendly and elegant, which is the key to defining the entire experience of using this headquarters.
We hope that the HG Holding Headquarters will become an effective guiding example of how corporate architecture could go beyond functionality to welcome the principles of human-centred design. This project was able to change traditional sterile office thinking and establish a new paradigm in which offices promote productivity and comfort in an emotional, healthy, and sensory manner.In the future, we hope to see this design as a source of inspiration to architects and clients in Turkey and the rest of the world to reconsider spaces in institutions as a venue that can promote positive mental health and sense of community. The high performance of the building might promote a wider usage of natural materials, considerate spatial levels, and biophilic design in general, which will eventually help build a more empathetic and greener future of corporate buildings.