This project is the result of an invited and won tender by a Tehran-based investor for the new company headquarter building at Shariati Street in the Tajrish District, Tehran. The brief asked to accommodate commercial program, housing, offices, and underground parking. Our proposal deliberately keeps the volumetric and typological organization simple and robust, taking into account unfamiliarity with the local construction industry.

The available bulk is split into two 7-storey towers of reasonable floor depth above a connecting 2-storey plinth. This split allows for a green roof terrace that is articulated as elevated and framed Persian garden (para desh, the enclosed garden; etymological forerunner of the word ‘paradise’). Maintaining a vital function with a regulated micro-climate at the building’s center, the garden is accessible from ground floor and the two towers.

Main focus was given to the articulation of the building envelope. The architectural language of a more open façade around the garden is distinguished from the exterior sides that are facing the city, emphasizing the difference in terms of scale. The extreme and changing temperature conditions of Tehran asked furthermore for a climate-sensitive design of the building envelope that resulted in differentiation of individual façades according to their orientation. Western state-of-the-art principles for climate facades are combined with climate-sensitive elements of traditional Persian architecture (moshabak, ravagh).