Saçak designs buildings for their place and for the people who live in them.
Olive Grove House
Urla, İzmir · 2025 · Completed
A single-storey house set into a sloping olive grove; its roof opens to the garden, its courtyard to the trees. No olive tree was cut.
Studio
Since 2012 we have worked from a two-storey timber house in Kuzguncuk. In our team of fourteen, the architect who draws the permit set is on site when the formwork comes off.
- Founders
- Defne Arıkan, Kerem Sarıgül
- Disciplines
- Architecture, interiors, restoration and adaptive reuse, architectural competitions
- Registration
- Chamber of Architects of Turkey (TMMOB), Istanbul Metropolitan Branch
- Engineering partners
- Structural, mechanical and electrical design with the same three firms on every project
Projects
Eight projects: completed, under construction and unbuilt competition entries.
Estimate
Your building's official class, approximate cost and time to the permit.
Architectural fees in Türkiye are based on approximate unit building costs the Ministry publishes each year. Pick a building type and gross area to see the class and amount under the 2026 communiqué.
Building type
340 m²
For detached houses the class depends on the unit's gross area: under 200 m² III-B, 200-500 m² III-C, 500 m² and over IV-B.
Building class
III-C
Unit cost
₺23,400/m²
Approximate building cost
₺7,956,000
340 m² × ₺23,400 · excl. VAT; overheads (15%) and contractor profit (10%) included
To the permit, on our schedule
Source: Communiqué on 2026 Approximate Unit Building Costs for Calculating Architecture and Engineering Fees, Official Gazette 3 February 2026, no. 33157. This amount is the official value fees are based on, not the market construction cost. Municipal review under Article 22 of the Zoning Law: at most 30 days for a complete application.
How we work
It starts with a model on the table and ends with details on site.
We talk with a model first
In the first weeks of concept design we bring a 1:200 card model instead of a plan. Together we see where light enters each room and how close we come to the neighbours; drawing starts after that.
One day a week on site
The work does not end at the permit. The architect who drew the project is on site every week during construction, drawing detail changes on the spot and choosing material samples with you.
FAQ
The fee is calculated from the building's official class for architectural services and the approximate cost found with the unit cost the Ministry publishes that year. The estimate shows this base; we give you a written proposal pricing each phase separately.
Under Article 22 of the Zoning Law, a complete application gets its permit within 30 days at most. Missing or wrong items are reported in writing within 15 days; once corrected, the permit is issued within 15 days at most.
Construction must start within two years of the permit date. If the building is not finished within five years including that period, the permit lapses and a new one is needed (Zoning Law, Article 29). We plan the schedule around these limits with you.
Yes. For listed buildings we first draw the survey, restitution and restoration projects and submit them to the regional heritage board; the board's time is added to the schedule. The stone mansion in Ürgüp is becoming a guesthouse this way.
Title deed details, the zoning status document from the municipality and any old drawings are enough. If there is no zoning status yet, our first job is to obtain it and have the site surveyed.
Yes; we have projects in Urla, Ürgüp, Eskişehir and Şile. Outside the city we visit the site every two weeks, and our local engineering partner is there in between.
Contact
Let's talk about your site or building.
Phone
+90 216 310 42 17Studio
Kuzguncuk, Üsküdar, Istanbul
Weekdays 09:30-18:30, meetings by appointment