In 2005, DeMicoli & Associates participated in a prestigious international architectural competition, initiated by the Kombassan Group for the design of a Commercial Centre, Hotel and Conference Centre in Istanbul. The brief consisted of a 15,000sm supermarket, a 40,000sm shopping centre, a 300 room hotel in the form of a tower, 6 cinemas, a conference centre and an underground car park for 1,500 vehicles.

The final design concept is based on the shape of a convoluted tower sitting on a three-story podium, whose mass imparts a sense of structural design strength and stability to the tower.

The structural balance of the building’s base complements the architectural mass of the tower, whose shape is designed externally in elaborate form, thus giving a dynamic vertical swathe reaching for the sky. Internally the spatial criterion provides the restful and luxurious image expected by discerning guests.

This externally twisted form also helps to resist seismic and wind loads and therefore the architectural shape translates into an engineering advantage not easily attainable otherwise. Moreover, such a high profile shape and structure would have created visual interest and it gives a prestigious image of an avant-garde philosophy reflecting the vision of the company.