The project is located in the city of Shiraz, which is one of the cultural capitals of Iran, and adjacent to Karim Khan Zand Boulevard, one of the main urban accesses in this historical context.
The challenge we faced, besides responding to the cultural and historical values of the setting of the design, was resolving the contradictions of the programming aspects of the building. In other words, we were asked to provide a plan for this site with limited width, for a bank branch together with its central administrative building, in a way that the branch, has a maximum share of the urban view as well as dimension proportion while the entrance of the administrative building, should be defined independently, sumptuously, and perceptibly.
The suggested solution to reach this aim was to define a mezzanine higher than the ground-floor level of the project and adjoining the eastern side; in a way that the maximum width of the site on the ground level would be allocated to the bank branch, and the remaining narrow part, would merely be applied to create direct access from the street. As a result, the administrative lobby, which is developed within the mezzanine area, could provide an independent entrance, and access to the office zone.
On the other hand, the section of the project has also been determined in three layers: The bank as a space to serve the city on the ground floor, the administrative section with relatively limited physical access but a direct visual connection to the city on higher levels, and the amphitheater as a public layer in between. With the receding of the amphitheater area from the site boundaries, direct access from the main street to this space has become possible through the ground-level mezzanine, and the internal stairway leading to the first floor. As a result, the maximum height is released for the administrative lobby as well as the bank branch.
The form language of the vault, which has been rooted in Iranian architecture since the past times, and is always acquainted with the indigenous material of brick – which is applied abundantly in the region of Shiraz – was studied this time from the structural perspective and how the load could be transferred. Therefore, aside from its formal quality, the possibility of separating the entrances and causing porosity to the corner of the volume or surface of the façade, its structural potentials could be activated in combination with the contemporary structures and offer novel spatial qualities.
This project, as a result, in addition to conveying historical connection with its context, with a creative manner in combination with form porosity, entrances, and the voids of different levels, grants the urban façade of the building an iconic feature, which on the ground level, enables the maximum urban public space for the citizens and their social interaction.