Once again, Home

Once Again Home is a renovation project in Isfahan that received 1st Place in the Renovation category at the 23rd Memar Award, earning 14 points with four of five jurors awarding it first place. Designed by LP Office (Logical Process in Architectural Design), the project seeks a model for evolving a traditional central-courtyard dwelling into a modern, contemporary house while establishing a reconciliation between old buildings and the new urban fabric.

The project comprises two parts: the preservation, structural reinforcement, and restoration of the existing old section; and the addition of a modern, lightweight structure to the existing condition. The new section meets the old structure in a state of utmost transparency, raising and lowering the courtyard level, creating a fluid cross-section, and ultimately defining the entire house as a screen before the memory of the old courtyard and the church across the alley.

The union of these two sections gives shape to a house with an open plan that is flexible and legible for the contemporary life of a young couple — a house for children, guests, exercise, swimming, reading, and rest. A house that is secluded yet transparent, set within the dense and clamorous fabric of the city of Isfahan. Buildings that for centuries have accommodated various forms of life through countless transformations had found no model for their evolution in the modern world; this project endeavors to provide precisely that model.