The Technology of an Early Reinforced Concrete Structure in Turkey: The Great Storehouse of the Kayseri Sumerbank Textile Factory (1932-1935)

Abstract

The former Kayse`ri Sumerbank Textile Factor(1932-1935) designed and funded by the U.S.S.R. was among the first large-scaled industrial establishments in Turkey. The so-called Great Storehouse as well as the rest of the complex constitutes an interesting case study as an early example of large-scaled reinforced concrete construction in a provincial center for Turkish and Soviet technological history.

The long and narrow building measuring 135x45m is constructed in four sections with wide spanning axes based on a skeletal system, supported with slender columns and beams. The columns rise 5-6.5m from the original floor level and reach 9m along the raised central nave. The foundations are composed of double layers of square footings joined with tie beams. The partition walls are constructed with bricks while the exterior walls are tuff. All the masonry walls are held together with a weak mortar based on cement, lime and sand, and with steel reinforcing bars placed horizontally in the horizontal courses and tied to thicker steel bars vertically along the columns. Horizontal strip windows located in the upper part of the exterior walls and along the high central nave provide natural light. There are steel hangar doors along the east and west walls in almost each grid as well as two central doorways located on the short east and west facades. The reinforced concrete surfaces are left exposed while the brick walls and the interior surfaces of the tuff walls are plastered.