Bronze Landscape Planning and Garden Design · 2026
Terra Urla Hotel Garden Landscape
by Harun Kırlıoglu - Ahan Architecture
- A' Design Award 2026 Bronze Winner in Landscape Planning and Garden Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: AHAN Architecture
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 6,569
- Verification code AD64058F6A · Verify this award
About Terra Urla Hotel Garden Landscape
Terra Urla is a hotel garden landscape located in Urla, Izmir. The design blends ancient local building traditions with contemporary sustainability. Site-sourced stones are assembled with dry-stack methods to form breathable surfaces that support biodiversity. Planting is based on endemic flora, including Olea europaea, Pistacia lentiscus and Laurus nobilis, with drought-tolerant aromatic species in lower layers. Smart irrigation and xeriscaping target water savings of fifty percent. A restaurant, a spa, sensory gardens, walking paths and a vineyard observation deck form the visitor route.
Harun Kırlıoglu's Terra Urla Hotel Garden Landscape engages the Mediterranean tradition of the cultivated garden pathway as threshold between quotidian world and sanctuary retreat, a lineage extending from the Persian pairi-daeza through Renaissance Italian giardino segreto to contemporary hospitality landscape architecture. The design demonstrates accomplished synthesis of regional vernacular stone construction methods with cosmopolitan planting design, creating a processional sequence that honors both functional circulation requirements and experiential contemplation, where the pathway becomes not merely utilitarian connector but choreographed spatial narrative inviting measured passage and sensory engagement. Compositionally, the design achieves sophisticated balance between architectural geometry and organic planting forms, establishing clear linear organization through the central concrete corridor while allowing plantings to soften and mediate the built environment through layered masses that create rhythmic alternation between enclosure and openness, compression beneath overhanging canopies and release toward sky apertures. The chromatic accomplishment lies particularly in the nuanced analogous harmony within the green spectrum, demonstrating the designer's sensitivity to how subtle variations in hue, value, and saturation across plant species can create visual richness without chromatic chaos, while warm stone tones provide complementary temperature contrast that grounds the composition and references regional architectural heritage. The golden hour illumination captured in this representation reveals how the design responds to Mediterranean light conditions, with raking afternoon sun activating textural variety across stone surfaces and foliage planes while casting long shadows that animate the ground plane and enhance spatial depth perception. Thematically, this landscape explores the hospitality garden as curated nature, where ecological authenticity meets aesthetic refinement, addressing perennial questions of how designed landscapes can provide both psychological refuge and sensory delight while remaining responsive to regional climate and cultural context. The work appears to reference the Mediterranean courtyard garden tradition where stone, water, and vegetation combine to create microclimatic comfort and psychological sanctuary, while simultaneously engaging contemporary sustainable landscape principles through apparent use of regionally appropriate plant species requiring minimal irrigation. One might observe how the processional quality of the pathway invites the visitor to transition gradually from arrival into immersion, how each threshold and spatial sequence modulates tempo and awareness, and how the integration of architecture and landscape suggests not separate realms but unified environmental composition where built and grown elements collaborate to shape human experience. What psychological dimensions does the careful orchestration of enclosure and prospect, shadow and light, activate in the garden visitor, and how might such designed sequences influence our understanding of hospitality environments as stages for renewal and contemplation?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Designed by Ahan, The Key Urla Hotel landscape is a self sustaining ecosystem blending ancient essence with sustainability. Its uniqueness lies in the integration of traditional dry-stack techniques with leed standards. utilizing indigenous flora and smart irrigation, it maximizes water efficiency. The design’s strength is its ecological integrity; by using local materials, it creates a refined environment that preserves heritage for future generations.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The planting strategy by Ahan architecture presents an ecosystem based on urlas flora. Technically, the project centers ancient species such as Olea europaea, Pistacia lentiscus, and Laurus nobilis. By using drought-tolerant aromatics in lower layers, it targets 50% water savings via smart irrigation. ın metric-ıso standards, full compliance with leed criteria is achieved through local material use and habitat restoration, technically optimizing the ecological cycle.
- Tags
- Sustainability, Ancient Techniques, Endemic Flora, Leed Certification, Water Conservation, Dry-Stack Stonework, Regenerative Design
- Production Technology
- In this project by Ahan architecture, construction is based on the principle of "locality." By processing site-sourced stones with traditional dry-stack methods, the firm designed breathable surfaces that support biodiversity. Industrial materials were limited by opting for regional natural stones and micro-aggregate finishes. This methodology ensures that the project exhibits not only aesthetic appeal but also a structural integrity strictly compliant with leed criteria.
- Design Challenge
- For Ahan architecture, the primary challenge was technically reconciling ancient construction techniques with modern leed sustainability criteria. Internal factors involved establishing an aesthetic language that met social expectations while preserving urla’s historical fabric. External factors included navigating rigid local regulations and limited access to specialized artisanal knowledge. These hurdles were overcome by hybridizing technology with local craftsmanship, ensuring design authenticity was preserved within the constraints of production possibilities.
- Project Duration
- The project started in Urla/ızmir in March 2022 and was completed in October 2025.
- Operation Flow
- The experience flow by Ahan architecture transforms the guest into an active part of the site. One starts at the restaurant, blending with the landscape via local flavors, then moves to the spa for the serenity of water and stone. Positioned as the heart of the experience, sensory gardens offer direct contact with flora to calm the mind, while walking paths turn footsteps into discovery. Yoga and picnic areas provide spiritual balance, and the journey culminates at the vineyard observation deck with a view of Urla heritage.
- Research
- Ahan architecture conducted qualitative research on local textures and leed v4.1 water efficiency & sustainable sites criteria. The objective was to merge ancient techniques with integrated design parameters. Using site analysis methodology, flora and edaphic data were collected. Experiments on endemic plants proved that dry-stack techniques increased biodiversity by 30% and reduced potable water demand by over 50%. These insights offer regenerative models for the industry and design field.
- Inspiration
- Ahan Architecture draws inspiration from the dialogue between Urla’s history and ecological resilience. The goal was to move from decorative landscaping toward a functional ecosystem. By bridging traditional dry-stack techniques with modern standards, the firm focuses on "genius loci". Utilizing xeriscaping and endemic flora ensures minimal water consumption. Through strategic water management, the practice translates the region's ancient legacy into a sustainable, contemporary sanctuary.