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- Architects: Negin Shahr Ayandeh
- Location: Mehrshahr, Karaj, Alborz Province, Iran
- Lead Architects: ali Naghavi namini
- Collaborators: Nastaran Esmaeilbeygi, Mohammad Dibaei, Khorshid Mazaheri, Soheyl Asef, Mohammadali Alhayari, Behzad Monadizadeh, Farshid Karimi, Ali Zandieh, Marzieh Nozari, Nahal Kashani, Siavash Ghorbani, Javad Naseri
- Area: 2500.0 m2
- Project Year: 2014
- Photographs: Deed Studio
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Text description provided by the architects. Apartment 210, with 11 residential units and the total area of 2500 square meters has been constructed on a land of 1000 square meters in the second phase of Mehrshahr district in Karaj. Unit areas vary from two-bedroom 115 square meters to three-bedroom 210 square meters. The construction of this project began in the summer of 2012 and was completed in the spring of 2014. The structure of this building has a concrete skeleton and its mechanical installations are the mix of evaporative coolers and water heaters with split units.
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The problem of Project’s Context
Mehrshahr could be considered as the only survivor of urban garden fabrics of Karaj city, but this district has not been protected from the damages of dense urban developments. However, Mehrshahr is still considered as one of the highest quality urban fabrics of Karaj due to the existence of gardens and green networks as well as lack of constructions.
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Section 02
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The main problem of this neighborhood is the rapid development and the increasing human density in emerging apartment buildings as well as changes in urban spaces. The lack of appropriate FAR (floor area ratio) and lot coverage control policies in Karaj and the satisfaction of urban management with the financial penalties instead of a stern opposition to the infringement of FAR and lot coverage control policies has resulted in the full abuse of the regulations by the real estate developers and builders. They have planned for the maximum FAR and GFA (gross floor area) so that they make the most financial profit, therefore the structure, form, and shape of the city is now ruled not by building regulations of the urban plans but by the highest possible profit of the maximum gross floor area to the amount of financial penalties. As a result, the quality of urban spaces and residence patterns and neighborhoods, just like other high-density parts of the city, ranks of a lower importance.
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With this introduction, housing quality improvements of medium-density residential apartments are delineated as the most important question of the project, and general and detailed ideas are proposed to respond to this issue by architectural solutions. Therefore, it has been attempted to improve the quality and the quantity of spaces, versus masses, in public and private realms by studying the project’s context as well as combination and balance between mass and building space. Also, a better response to various social, cultural, and economic needs of residents is provided by a variety of housing patterns and structures.
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