In the heart of Istanbul, where the legacy of the Ottoman Empire meets the modern pulse of global commerce, a striking transformation has taken root. At the Tersane-i Âmire - the city’s historic Ottoman Imperial Arsenal, which served as the nexus of naval power for over four centuries - OMA has unveiled Beymen Tersane

Designed for the Beymen Group, the 12,000-square-meter project is a lesson in adaptive reuse. Under the guidance of OMA partners Ellen van Loon and Iyad Alsaka, the design team has eschewed the conventional department store blueprint in favor of a spatial narrative that honors the site’s storied past.

Rather than imposing a monolithic structure, OMA has inserted a series of freestanding galleries within the cavernous, historic shipyard halls. These galleries, distinct in both geometry and materiality, act as a new architectural layer, creating a dialogue between the industrial grit of the old world and the refined, contemporary offerings within. Visitors do not simply browse retail; they traverse a series of curated installations where fashion meets art, and the architecture remains ever-present, never obscured by the commercial veneer.

Perhaps the most significant departure from retail orthodoxy is the project’s rejection of the "vertical hierarchy"—the standard, often disjointed distribution of departments across multiple floors. Here, OMA has crafted a continuous, horizontal retail experience. By traversing the space both along and across these distinct galleries, the shopper is afforded a fluid, non-linear journey that echoes the vastness of the shipyard itself.

Beyond the retail interior, the project serves as a crucial urban reconnect. In a city where the waterfront has often remained tantalizingly out of reach, Beymen Tersane, coupled with a new public promenade along the Golden Horn, invites the public back to the water’s edge. It is a thoughtful return to the city’s roots—a project that respects the gravity of its location while firmly anchoring Istanbul’s future as a global cultural destination.