Villa No.12, Mazandaran — 2nd Place: Individual Dwellings

2nd Place: Villa No.12, Mazandaran Location: Nour, opposite the stone gate of Nour Forest Park, Dorna Township Client: Mr. Ghandchi / Design associates: Ehsan Golriz, Ebrahim Valizadeh, Niayesh Khamseh, Sepideh Riazi / Structure: Behrang Baniadam / Mechanical and Electrical: Ali Faraji / Construction: Arash Esmaeilzadeh / Built area: 553 sqm / Site area: 1,079 sqm Mohammadreza Marashi, Sanaz Khamene Villa No.12 is one of four villas designed at the client's request by the Noar design team in this township, none of which were adjacent to each other. The initial design idea was to find a general framework for designing four villas that, while maintaining integrity and following a shared architectural language, would have completely different behaviors and spaces. Given the identical dimensions of each plot and the built area of the villas, we conceived a cubic form measuring 21 by 16 meters and 7.5 meters in height, which the climatic conditions then shaped and transformed. Creating negative spaces influenced by the project's functional program could serve as a good solution for generating options with different interior spaces and relationships while preserving the original form within the initial framework. Our goal was essentially to create identical units with diverse spaces, where different neighboring conditions and views toward the sea and surroundings would help shape varied negative spaces for each unit. The next phase was designing Villa No.12, where, considering the aforementioned points, we developed negative spaces with various options for this unit. Taking into account factors such as the placement of main and secondary terraces, views toward the surrounding environment and neighbors, as well as the arrangement of required spaces, we arrived at the final option for carving out the cubic form, ultimately selecting the final design through extensive iterations. Special attention to the quality of negative spaces through creating brick textures on the surfaces, the observer's view from inside the spaces toward L-shaped windows, and the penetration of green space into them — which created a stronger connection between the building and its surroundings while differentiating this area from the simple exterior facade — were among our objectives in designing this building. In the interior design, we also intended to detach the staircase and the sleeping porch as separate elements from the main structure, using them as a sculptural element within the main void, so that in addition to maintaining the staircase's connective function and the special quality of the sleeping porch, this section would appear in a different, continuous yet distinct role, reflecting the special importance of these elements in residential spaces.