The client, having utterly the other perception of an architectural project, beside the undersupply of the budget, referred the project to us /our office/. Thereupon some approaches were taken to recast the weaknesses of the project as the strengths.
Contrary to the usual cases, the project was launched by financial and executive team of the office; So in a way a new solution would be set for the financial issues ahead, to reduce the restrictions in design process and construction phase caused by shortage in budget. Accordingly, through many arguments with the government, the permission of an additional story was acquired. This would provide an extra money to make up for the shortage in budget.
The project is located in Kholdebarin quarter, in which all the blocks are oriented to the west. Unaccustomed to the existing urban pattern and skyline, the dictated orientation was to the north. This resulted many downsides, firstly throwing the uniformity of the existing building into chaos; secondarily a noticeable part of each flat would be deprived from the direct sunlight. The orientation for one thing and the four meter setback regarding future street widening, for the other, prevented us from taking the dictated direction.
Of other challenges was the exterior façade to the street; If we were to spot it merely as a two-dimensional surface, it would lay such an impractical stress on the building, rendering it as a massive body. It would then, for sure, not only eliminating the interpretation of the residence from it but also weighing too much in the adjacency of the harmonic rhythm of the neighbors.
The pedestrian, no matter /either/ living in our building or one of the neighbors, was addressed by devising some strategies, namely the variety of materials, the lighting design and the green spaces, all decided to be specifically humanized, to participate one passing by in every single step he takes.