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DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Armada 3 Mixed Use Architectural Complex by A Tasarim Architect Is Granted the Silver A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design

A Tasarim Architect acknowledged for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 24, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Armada 3 Mixed Use Architectural Complex by A Tasarim Architect, designed for A Tasarım Architect, has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category. The award was conferred within the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

What the Silver A' Design Award Means

The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.

About Armada 3 Mixed Use Architectural Complex

Armada 3 is a mixed use architectural complex in Ankara, Turkey. The building combines upper segment retail, gastronomy areas, and office spaces across multiple above-ground levels, with a construction area of about 21,000 square meters. Entrances on several sides and a street like interior keep the complex open to the city. Step-back terraces and self-shading geometries support solar control and daylight. A reinforced concrete column grid allows flexible unit sizes and future reconfiguration. The facade uses high-performance glazing, insulated panels, and metal cladding.

About A Tasarim Architect

A Tasarım Mimarlık has been founded by M. Arch Ali Osman Öztürk in 1997. Urban design, mixed-use, public, culture, residential, commercial, office, hospitality, education and research projects are the main fields of the firm. Specializing on grand projects, A Tasarım has vast experience on designing the constructions within their own environments and incorporating them into the urban life. With an approach of creating qualified living spaces, the firm the leads design and construction process in cooperation with investors, engineering groups, landscape design teams and consultants. A Tasarım continues its local and international practices with corporate offices in Ankara and İstanbul.

Award Record

With this recognition, A Tasarim Architect is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted in the 2025 - 2026 edition of the A' Design Award & Competition.

About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award

The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Typical entries include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. The awarded architectural projects are published at https://designers.org/design-category/architecture

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
Armada 3 Mixed Use Architectural Complex
Function
Mixed Use Architectural Complex
Category
Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Discipline
Spatial Design
Industry
Architecture
Colors
Dark Slate Gray, Light Steel Blue, Cornflower Blue, Black and Dim Gray
Images
5
Client
A Tasarım Architect

The Recognition

Laureate
A Tasarim Architect
Country
Turkiye
Recognition
Silver A' Design Award
Edition
2025 - 2026
Design ID
#182214

Credits

Team
Ali Osman Ozturk, Canan Arslan, Niyazi Ayvaz, Kutlay Batur, Pelin Oztoklu, Sinan Ozkan, Gokçe Sahin, Mina Nur Uraloglu Duman, Mehmet Ozturk, Cuneyt Ozturk, Zeynep Yıldırım, Idil Erkan, Hasan Yigit Sari, Ilayda Ozturk, 2023-, 21,000 square meters, Ankara, High Level Project, Protes Engineering, Akay Engineering, Promim, Karina, Sonay Ozar, Sogutozu Construction and Libra Frank

Design Details

Unique Properties
Armada 3 operates as an urban connector rather than a closed commercial object. Its uniqueness lies in transforming a conventional mixed-use development into a piece of civic infrastructure that stitches together pedestrian flows, transportation networks, and public life.
Inspiration
The project was inspired by the need to reinterpret the shopping mall as an active component of urban infrastructure rather than an isolated object. Research into urban permeability, mixed-use hybridity, climate-responsive envelopes, and evolving retail behaviors informed a design approach that integrates civic space, environmental performance, and long-term spatial adaptability within a dense metropolitan context.
Research
This project investigates how large-scale commercial architecture can function as civic infrastructure within a metropolitan context. Through spatial continuity, environmental responsiveness, and mixed-use integration, the research explores permeability, adaptability, and urban connectivity as design drivers. Armada 3 serves as a case study demonstrating how contemporary retail-led developments can evolve into flexible urban frameworks that support public life, mobility, and long-term resilience rather than operating as isolated building objects.
Challenge
The primary challenge was to transform a conventional retail-led mixed-use program into an open, adaptable urban system without losing commercial viability. The project had to reconcile large-scale architectural presence with human-scale experience, integrate public circulation with private program, and respond to climate and daylight constraints. Balancing permeability, environmental performance, and long-term flexibility within a dense metropolitan context defined the core research and design challenge.
Realization and Technology
The project is realized through a reinforced concrete structural system with a regular column grid, enabling modular flexibility and long-term adaptability. The façade combines high-performance glazing, opaque insulated panels, and metal cladding, supported by passive environmental strategies such as step-back terraces and self-shading geometries. Landscape elements, integrated lighting, and durable urban materials reinforce both climatic performance and public use.
Operation and Interaction
The building works by staying open to the city. People can enter from multiple sides, move naturally along a street-like interior, and shift easily between indoor and outdoor spaces. Terraces, passages, and transparent façades guide movement, bring in light, and invite public use, allowing the project to adapt smoothly to daily urban life rather than controlling it.
Project Duration and Location
2023–2027, Ankara, Turkey
Specifications
Construction area of approximately 21,000 square meters, organized in multiple above-ground levels with integrated terraces and semi-open public platforms. Regular reinforced concrete column grid allows flexible unit sizing and future reconfiguration. Step-back massing optimizes solar control and daylight performance. Mixed-use program includes upper-segment retail, gastronomy areas, and office spaces, supported by integrated vertical circulation, service cores, and environmental performance strategies suitable for dense urban conditions.
Keywords
Urban Integration, Mixed-Use Architecture,Retail Architecture, Public Space, Permeable Façade, Climate-Responsive Design, Urban Continuity,

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