Rauf Denktaş University’s Master of Architect Çise Tunççağ awarded the Propertync Award for renovation: “I believe that, as the building is already an architectural heritage property that we are responsible for conserving it for future generations, the renovations that I do today will also be architectural and cultural heritages for generations of 50 years later.”

As the architect of the project, I obtained my Architecture degree in 2007 from Eastern Mediterranean University and then I received my Master degree of MSC Conservation of Historic Buildings at the University of Bath. The dissertation topic that I chose for my Masters programme was “Step by Step Towards the Regeneration of Walled Nicosia, to Sustaibable Tourism” and now I can say that I majored on dealing with historical buildings and historic quarters, to develop the areas both physically and socially especially in Nicosia which lead me to success in this approach. ‘Univeristy of Rauf Denktaş’ can also be described as one of those projects.

The family of our First President Rauf Raif Denktaş, decided to renovate the building into a university called Rauf Denktaş University, which is very meaningful for our society. Being a part of this valuable project, I feel very lucky and proud and also to have the opportunity to renovate this kind of historical significant building. Walled Nicosia has started to lose its identity both physically and socially for many years. Therefore not only the physical conservation of the city was necessary, social rehabilitation was also required for Walled Nicosia in order to contribute to the conservation of tourism and economy. As far as universities in historic quarters it can be said to be one of the most beneficial economic and social engines for the region, this conservation project is very important for the area.

As the building is located in Walled Nicosia it already had both architectural and historical significance for the society, it was used as Ardath Tabacco Factory before 1950s by Greek people, then renovated into a general hospital as the Turkish people’s first hospital in 1963 under the leadership of Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu, the building needed to be valued and attentively renovated in order to conserve the building’s original character.

The main thing that I realised about the building was that, the positions, proportions and scales of the original windows has been moved and changed, most probably when it was being used as a newspaper print house for a few years. And this caused a complete identity loss for the building. In that moment I decided that one of the main important goals for my renovation project should be the achievement of the historic building’s original character. Therefore I prepared my interior layout plan accordingly in order to regain the historic building’s original character. Inappropriate materials were used for the windows such as plastic, therefore as well as correcting the original positions and scales of the windows, I also restored all the windows again respectfully, with its original materials and square designs with steel and glass.

One of the other main priorities for me was to present the construction methods and materials of the stone walls on ground floor and first floor to combine my interior design and renovation project together. So, we spent a lot of time and effort to remove the plaster from the stone walls carefully and tidily. Then, it was very important to mortar the stones with appropriate materials in order to prevent undesirable decays in decay over a long period.. So we mortar the stones carefully with hydraulic limestone dust, sand from the sea and we also polished the stones with a special transparent mat stone polish, which is always my first priority for historic renovation projects.

"Architectural and cultural heritages for generations of 50 years later."

Because, I believe that, as the building is already an architectural heritage that we are responsible to conserve it for the next generations, the renovations that I do today will also be architectural and cultural heritages for the generations of 50 years later. So I believe that a visitor can conceive and differentiate, when the building was originally constructed and when it was renovated, which makes the building itself an exhibition in my point of view. This idea is perceptible in my design, with the obviously used steel beams, installations, ventilation canals and cassette type air conditioning, where none of them have tried to be hidden, even used as a part of industrial interior design which is not usual for education buildings.

Because this is an educational building unlike a bar or restaurant that people use while relaxing, the building itself would make the people relax while using it. And this is the reason that simplicity was also my other priority for this project. And this tried to be created by keeping the ceilings high, using daylight accordingly, using plants inside, using less objects inside, using light colors and creating gathering areas for the students.

Energy efficiency was also managed by making good use of daylight for lightening of classes by the use of glass above corridor walls, using insulation materials materials within the walls and also by using air curtain above the automatic entrance door in order to prevent any temperature loss by the areas.

A secure disable ramp is designed for the entrance and also disable toilets are designed both for the gorund floor and first floor for disabled people. And also a lift is located for common use.