Barin Ski Resort

The Barin complex sits on a 6,000 m² plot one kilometre from the Shemshak ski piste, in the lap of the mountain beside a river. The design of this skiers’ residential complex was given to us in spring 1387 (2008), at the moment when the structural works of the project were already in hand.

The idea. A complex naturally has to hold its surroundings within its body. Here the most powerful place-forces of the site were the snow-white landscape and the soft, fluid lines that the snow cover creates around things. Following that, the principal movement routes of the project were tracked carefully — but because the circulation, stairs, lifts and main lobby were unevenly distributed, they were re-shifted to the project centre as the joint of the two earlier volumes.

Innovations and advantages. The existing structure shifts shape inside a different formal and spatial language that responds to its surroundings. Computer-aided design and production drove the workflow — the link between 2D and 3D files and the fabrication shop was elevated through CNC machinery and plasma cutting. The building reads as one continuous surface from the landscape to the outer skin and into the interior. Because the local climate is severe, a façade material had to answer extreme cold; after extensive research the Japanese Wall coating system was selected and used in Iran for the first time. This new coating, with its natural base (made of the fossil remains of algae and plankton accumulated in the sea bed) and meeting world standards down to −40 °C (Shemshak’s ten-year mean has reached −34 °C), is a thermal and environment-friendly insulator and gives the façade an integrated, natural texture.

Structure and services. The existing structural system is a steel frame; to coordinate with the façade-skin design, a hybrid of a special moment frame and lateral braces was adopted. Project heat is produced through cast-iron hot-water heaters and distributed via ceiling fan-coils. On the roof, terraces and the surrounding grounds, snow-melt heating elements are used; in front of the terrace windows an intelligent convector system provides initial relative warming.

Jury Commentary

Kamran Afshar Naderi: Relevance to the brief and the formal proximity to the mountain and to its snow-bearing folds and ridges. The creation of an entirely new spatial experience. Connection to Iranian vernacular architecture through the use of soft forms and a fluid, smooth movement from floor to ceiling. Connection to today’s global architecture. A future-facing approach. Skill in remaining faithful to the project’s premises across the whole and in the details, as well as in the furniture design.