Istanbul Galata Tower Restoration (1965)
Yapı Merkezi was founded in 1965 with the aim of “producing and constructing modern building projects that will serve people by creating an environment of happiness“.
Yapı Merkezi carries out projects with universal dimensions; by managing risks well, it always achieves its goal of completing its products and services in the quality, time and budget it has committed to.
While achieving these goals, Yapı Merkezi never ignores the aesthetic attitude, which is a bridge of judgment between thought and practice, and pursues beauty with passion. It takes into account professional and human values as well as technical measurements, and constantly processes information in all its activities in order to become an ‘Organization of Measurement’. Yapı Merkezi is an open, transparent, innovative and pioneering group of companies in the sectors in which it operates, determined to complete every project on time. It respects and is sensitive to the history, traditions, customs, laws and environment of the countries it serves.
The happiness of the inhabitants of the 42 million m² buildings engineered by Yapı Merkezi; the safe transportation of more than 3.5 million passengers every day on three continents with over 4,200 km of rail lines, 63 rail systems and 448 stations built since 1965; the delivery of clean water to hundreds of locations in 55 countries with 10,000 km of water-tight pipes; the production of concrete with a strength of 3,000 kg/cm²; and the self-development of thousands of students through the education provided at our Irmak Schools are all meaningful indicators for the Yapı Merkezi family.
Yapı Merkezi İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş., the first and largest company of the Group, has implemented and continues to implement important construction projects and rail systems in Turkey and abroad, especially in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Algeria and Morocco.
Founded in 1978 with its prefabrication experience and know-how, Yapı Merkezi Prefabrication Group was the first company in the Turkish construction industry to receive the ISO9001 Quality Assurance Certificate.
Since 1987, Yapı Merkezi has grown with Freysaş, Real Estate, Subor and Yapıray companies and was gathered under the roof of Yapı Merkezi Holding in 1998. In 1994, Nitelikli Eğitim Kurumları A.Ş. was established and Irmak Schools was included in the Holding, and in 2012, IDİS, a technology company, was established to ensure integrity in the construction of rail systems.
Ersin Arıoğlu, Founder of Yapı Merkezi, expressed the meaning of his entry into the education sector as follows:
“Irmak Primary School was founded with the aim of achieving universal excellence in education and training. Our aim is to make the best of today and to create new original educational models within the framework of our National Education laws in a short time. It is the indispensable mission of our school to continuously develop and move towards the better.
As the founders of Irmak, we believe that every human being is unique and is born with the ability to “sustain, gain and develop their life“. In other words, every human being is born and lives his/her life with different unique abilities. The aim of our institution is to serve Turkish National Education by raising “happy and strong Turkish youth who are skilled in earning and developing their lives, responsible for their society and their age“.
In this direction, our principles can be summarized as follows:
- To create a free thinking and academic environment for education.
- To provide education in a healthy infrastructure and an equipped campus.
- To carry out widespread sportive activities and nature-recognition programs in the unique natural environment of the campus.
- To turn the school teaching staff-student-parent triad into a system that “learns collectively and together”.
- To make the school a “cultural center” by integrating with nearby and sister institutions and organizations.
In the Irmak education system, methods of producing creative thinking will be discussed and care will be taken to ensure that children perceive competition as a “game“.
On the other hand, the school provides ample opportunities for artistic and sports activities. The effective use of English as a second language will also be internalized in our children.
The average student who graduates from our school will be able to meet the universal standards set for their peers. They will have basic skills and academic knowledge.
But more importantly, these students will participate in society by acquiring high personality values.
I wish, hope and dream that these young people will be trustworthy, sincere, honest, eager to solve the negative problems around them and contribute to positive developments; that they will be skillful in earning and developing their lives; that they will know how to create happiness for themselves, their families, their country and the world with their sense of responsibility for their society and their age; and that they will carry our country into the information age as strong Turkish youth.”
With these considerations in mind, our founder Dr. Ersin Arıoğlu initiated a collaborative partnership with Cranbrook Schools in February 2006. Cranbrook is recognized as one of the top educational institutions in the state of Michigan for almost two centuries.
Every year, Cranbrook Schools organize a special scholarship exam for Irmak students and give them the opportunity to continue their education there. Summer schools were also organized with Cranbrook art teachers. With these activities, Irmak Schools maintain its international experience.
Eurasia Road Crossing (2016)
İstanbul Beyoğlu Nostalgic Tram (1990)