Zafaranieh Residential Building

Zafaranieh Residential Building (Zafaranieh Garden Complex) in Tehran, won Third Place in the Apartment Buildings category at the 16th Memar Award (2016). This 63-unit residential complex is arranged across 12 above-ground floors and 3 basement levels on one of Tehran's northern slopes. Avoiding the cutting of trees within the building footprint was the primary consideration, leading to the entire built area being organized as two separate building blocks.

The concept of the "Plant Box" — symbolizing the interaction between urban dwellers and nature — was employed to organize the massing. The initial building mass was grouped with wooden boxes of 2 to 5 stories. Generous open and semi-open courtyards (between 18 and 90 square meters) with minimum two-story heights, combined with a rainwater recycling network, enabled extensive use of tree vegetation within the building. The shifting of floor areas and volumetric sliding during this process of vertical scale reduction created new facade orientations toward surrounding views and fresh perspectives of the project itself.

The primary facade materials are exposed structural concrete, wood evoking plant boxes, and painted fiber-cement panels, though perhaps the most essential facade material is the green layer of trees that give it a dynamic, living face across seasons. Over 30 diverse apartment types ranging from 220 to 750 square meters have been designed. The plot area is 6,500 and total built area is 35,000 square meters.