Cafe Zest

Cafe Zest is a renovation project in the Karimabad neighbourhood of Shahsavar (Tonekabon), designed by Vahid Joudi Studio (Vahid Joudi). The cafe sits within a villa-district neighbourhood that, owing to the seasonal presence of its residents and the absence of any bond with everyday urban life, has been drained of vitality. The central concern reached beyond mere change of use: it found meaning in redefining the private-public relationship and adapting a socio-cultural programme within a structure with a residential past.

The boundary between cafe and city was reinterpreted not as a rigid separation but as a socio-urban edge — a permeable, living layer that reinforces a sense of invitation and enables pausing, socialising, and spontaneous gatherings. The conventional programme was redefined with two complementary elements: the Co-Creation Box (a flexible space for collective production of ideas and participatory events) and the Social Box (a vehicle for dialogue, networking, and social interactions at the local scale). The spatial organisation shifted from centralisation to distribution and free flow of movement.

Given the rental nature of the property and budget constraints, the new skin used low-cost materials already on site — scaffolding, metal pipes, mesh sheets, aluminium — redefined as structural and visual layers. During the 25th Memar Award jury deliberations, juror Han Tumertekin was critical, finding "too many elements used to create the new space." However, jurors Nasrin Seraji and Afshin Farzin supported the project. It received 4 points and placed 3rd in Renovation.