Qazvin Bar Association's Building

Qazvin Bar Association’s Building Architect: Challenge Studio Location: Qazvin, Iran Date: 2013 Status: Competition Proposal Design Team: Alireza Esfandiari, Ali Gharakhani, Mohsen Tajedin, Zahra Aghamohamadi Design Associates: Nasim Sehat, Ehsan Karimi, Marjan Mirkheshti, Shima Sherafati The main idea for designing Qazvin Bar Association’s Building started with a simple question: how can we design a project that merges into the urban fabric, while having harmony with its surroundings and still be considered as a landmark for the city of Qazvin? Therefore, our proposal is based on being formally contemporary with an elevation responding to the building’s functions, as well as harmonizing with principles of Iranian Architecture. Having an intensive program and function, the building must respond not only to the general needs of an administrative building, but also being able to transform into an authentic union for lawyers. The most important challenge in this process was maximizing the use of sunlight. Our approach for finding a solution to this problem was paying maximum attention to dark and less illuminated surfaces. Cutting through the volume and creating openings have increased the depth of light penetration. This has led to the minimum number of dark spaces. With this approach, the skylight with useful depth has been double the surface facing direct sunlight. According to depth of the building, appropriate openings have been designed to lead the sunlight into the depth of the building. These light-catching spaces provide natural lighting for the building, as well as creating semi-private spaces which add to the attractiveness of the project. The form of the site and the inconvenience of east and west light, the placement of bricks on the elevation has been designed with a 45-degree orientation. This shift provides the interior spaces with a broader perspective and prevent from the direct sunlight from penetrating into spaces.