Europe’s tallest building, 236-meter-high Istanbul Sapphire opened on Friday.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Istanbul Sapphire, with its environmentally-friendly design, vertical gardens, recreational areas and technological features, had raised standards.
"I believe Istanbul Sapphire will help promotion of Istanbul’s beauties to Turkish and foreign visitors, thanks to its panaromic terrace," Erdogan said during the inauguration ceremony.
Constructed by the Kiler Group, Istanbul Sapphire is at 368 meters above sea level and 236 meters above ground.
Tallest building of Istanbul’s Levent main business district and second tallest building in Istanbul and Turkey (after the Diamond of Istanbul located in the nearby Maslak business district), Istanbul Sapphire is Turkey’s first ecological skyscraper.
It rises 54 floors above ground level and reaches an above-ground roof height of 238 meters (and a structural height of 261 meters including its spire, which is part of the design and not a radio antenna, and is therefore counted as a part of the overall structural height of the building.)
Istanbul Sapphire consists of 64 floors (54 above-ground and 10 basement floors), communal living floors, extensive parking spaces, a large shopping mall, and 47 floors for residences.
There are specialized floors which have private gardens between every 3 floors, and every 9 floors are separated from each other by a communal living area or mechanical floors.
Sapphire is the first ecological building of Turkey, having two special glass shells which can take the outside air naturally by holes located at every 3 floors. Thanks to this system, the inhabitants of the building are not affected by the negative weather conditions and external urban noise, in addition to providing a buffer with the outside atmosphere and the internal facilities. Absorption of the sunlight and ultraviolet beams are ensured by a special curtain system that’s automatically controlled through a computer, depending on the season, day and hour.