Sadri Residence

The Sadri Residence in Isfahan, designed by Mohammad Reza Ghanei and Ali Sheikholeslam (Polsheer Consultant), won first place in the 2nd Grand Memar Award (2002). Built on a narrow 71-square-meter plot, the architects created a rich sequence of interior spaces recalling the complexity and intimacy of traditional Iranian houses. The design features a basement with service areas and a pool, a ground floor with kitchen, salon, bedrooms, yard, and parking, and a first floor with living room, service areas, and closet areas. The exterior is characterized by vaulted stone forms, colored mosaic panels, and textured surfaces. Inside, spaces unfold through vaulted ceilings, mezzanine levels, narrow corridors with hanging lanterns, and passages creating a layered experience of light and shadow. The jury praised this work for approaching the "essence of the Iranian house" and bringing urban spatial complexity to a constrained residential plot.

Writing in Memar Magazine, critic Kamran Afshar Naderi called the Sadri House "a very interesting project." He noted its most important feature is its unique spatial concept: the elongated rectangular site has been well organized, and its elongation — instead of being neutralized by transverse elements — has been emphasized by three corridors and staircases. "The corridor and staircase — forgotten elements of residential architecture — have here been valorized and transformed into distinctive elements," Afshar Naderi wrote. "The layering of spaces and volumes within one another has been designed in a way that is experiential from within. The walls are full of perforations, niches, and other architectural events, and the interior spaces are diverse, complex, and full of corners for sitting and occupying."