SIPAN residential building

Sipan is a 10-story, 12,600-sqm residential building located in the Jamshidieh neighborhood, north of Tehran.

This part of the city is situated at the hillsides of Alborz Mountains, which is higher in altitude than central and southern Tehran, so it benefits from less air pollution and more natural tranquility. A very important issue in our design process was to take advantage of the spectacular view while at the same time blocking the undesirable ones. The altitude of the site has ensured scenic views of the city to south, and rocky hillsides and natural gardens to the north. The east side features an unpleasant intrusion of a neighboring building, which is concealed with fewer openings, and which also offers increased privacy.

Consistency/conformity between the building's envelope and interior spaces has been our design principle. The initial idea reflects the organization of the spaces: the more private rooms are located at the corners of the layout, while the more public ones are set at the center to benefit from more light and view. The design of the building's envelope follows the same rule. A rectangular module with an opening proliferates on the surface of the envelope in a way that large units with large openings at the center grow smaller towards the edges of the building ,offering more privacy.

When the project was referred to us the structure was built, thus the pattern of the envelope has been derived from the super-imposition of two grids : the grid of the existing structure and the grid proposed by the organization of this public and the private spaces.

-Unity in diversity

Traditional forms or ornaments have not been used in the design. Yet, the concept of "unity in diversity" has influenced our design. The general concept and the details have been originated from a unique idea

that presents "unity" in all of the spaces of the project. In the old traditional architecture, a module (Peyman) were used in different design aspects, in all scales .The same routine has been implemented here with an attempt to avoid monotony in repetition of the modules and elements.

-Raising the quality of common areas

Diverse vivacious collective spaces improve the social impacts and connections between the neighbors, these collective and recreational spaces revitalizes the ten-story residential building .Here,green roof accommodates recreational and sportive facilities for the residents. In a densely populated city like Tehran with rapid urban development, along with congestion of building and devastation of intra-city gardens, using the useless space of roof as a multipurpose space could suggest an appropriate solution to compensate this deficiency.

-Sustainability and continuity between outside and inside

In choosing the building materials, our first consideration was the natural materials such as stone and wood. Because of the rocky and green mountains in the north, the uniformly use of stone in facade in addition to the greenery on the roof, connects the skyline of the project with its surrounding and provides unity with its instant environment. The project is also an innovative approach to stone. In Iran stone is mainly considered classic architecture, with this project we tried to change the rules and show how this traditional, natural material can be used in a contemporary way.