This winter, we had the pleasure to welcome back Yasemin Kapkın, who joined IEBP in December 2025 to design the overall façade vision for Iceland Eco-Business Park (IEBP). Yasemin first worked with us in March 2025 as part of her studies at LHÍ (Master in Design of New Environment), where she contributed to design work around the Heart of IEBP. We were so impressed by her talent: how quickly she grasped the project and delivered such high-quality work; that we invited her to return and translate that same clarity into an overall visual direction for IEBP’s future.
As part of this work, Yasemin created 3D renderings of the space, showcasing the building from key viewpoints and helping us visualize how the façade and the Heart can come together as one coherent identity.
Front view of Iceland Eco-Business Park – Yasemin Kapkın
A future expression of IEBP’s identity
Yasemin’s proposal is a future expression of Iceland Eco-Business Park’s identity, shaped around sustainability and long-term adaptability, creating clarity and a cohesive visual language as new companies join the park.
Front view of Iceland Eco-Business Park – Yasemin Kapkın.
Rather than proposing a complete transformation, the vision explores how the existing industrial structure could be carefully adapted to perform better environmentally while supporting IEBP’s long-term goals of sustainability, adaptability, and shared identity. Continuity with the existing concrete building is a key principle: fiber cement panels with a concrete finish are introduced as an outer façade layer to blend with the original structure, while a continuous external insulation system behind the panels illustrates a strategy to improve thermal performance and reduce long-term energy use, without interfering with the interior or structural integrity of the building.
The façade is organized through a clear hierarchy, with the Heart of IEBP positioned as the primary focal point. It is defined by a steel structural frame clad with corten steel panels, creating a strong yet restrained architectural marker. Corten is proposed as panelized cladding rather than a solid mass, reducing material use while maintaining durability and visual presence, and its natural aging reinforces longevity and responsible material use.
Surrounding the Heart, the façade transitions into repetitive company blocks designed to host future IEBP companies through a modular system that ensures equal visibility and spatial clarity. Thermally modified timber panels articulate entrances and soften the industrial character, while aluminium cladding panels in IEBP green define consistent locations for signage and numbering, creating a unified identity while still allowing each company to take its place within a shared framework.
Left front view of IEBP.
Material choices throughout prioritize durability, climate resistance, and environmental responsibility, including black steel window and door frames for robustness and wind protection, and recycled glass proposed for doors and window glazing to support circular material use and reduce environmental impact. Lighting is conceived as an integrated architectural layer (recessed lighting beneath stair treads, in-ground fixtures along sidewalks, and softly illuminated signage and numbering) supporting safety and legibility during dark hours while remaining calm and non-intrusive; additional integrated lighting within planted elements allows the IEBP logo to be subtly highlighted through vegetation.
Accessibility is embedded into the site strategy through carefully designed sidewalks and ramps that support smooth, intuitive movement across the façade and between entrances, while planted elements with locally suitable vegetation soften the scale of the building and strengthen its connection to the surrounding landscape.
Top view of IEBP.
This is a representation, a concept vision of how IEBP can evolve over time, and it can continue to develop as the park grows. Overall, Yasemin’s façade vision presents a realistic and adaptable framework that balances environmental performance, clarity of use, and a strong collective identity for the future.
We are truly proud of Yasemin’s work and grateful for her professionalism, care, and creative strength in translating IEBP’s ambitions into a coherent architectural direction. Thank you, Yasemin.
We are grateful for our collaboration with the University of the Arts Iceland and the Master in Design & New Environments program, and we warmly thank Thomas Pauzs and Jón Helgi Hólmgeirsson for their close support and collaboration.
Looking ahead, we are happy to continue this partnership in 2026, welcoming a new student, Oðinn Finnsson-Bell, for a six-week residency focused on exploring how to reuse materials for design purposes.
Stay tuned, we’ll be sharing updates and learnings from Óðinn’s work soon.
