Eshtehard is one of the semi-industrialized suburbs of the capital; A vast and barren area that has been one of the main options for the development of Tehran›s industrial space during the last half century, and perhaps that is why its image has been recorded in the mind with the accumulation of vestibules and sheds.
The presence of architecture offices in such areas can, in addition to breaking this stereotypical image, give contemporary industrial architecture a concept beyond the current conditions. In addition to this fact, that our architectural team was present for the second time in another industrial city of Eshtehard to implement an architectural project, it can be considered from this point of view that we were actually consolidating our intellectual idea about industrial architecture in a vision. which was accumulated by repeated niches. The creation of a building named «Factory» was the goal that was taking place in Karaj›s reputation this time.
the process department of Shamim Polymer Factory is located on a land area of 3850 square meters in Omid Alborz Industrial Town; Ten kilometers from the Mahdasht-Ishtahard road, a place surrounded by the desert in the south of Karaj.
The factory›s entire building is 2200 meters in size, consisting of two unbalanced and unconventional forms next to each other. However, the knowledge of what this plant is supposed to do is incorporated into the form and content in a premeditated fashion.
Note - The subject of the project is limited to the production and warehouse building, and other uses such as office, labor services, and other such things will be located in the building adjacent to the subject land of this project.
One aspect of our interest in architecture is the narrative behind Architectural design. Often, the features of our designs are influenced by the specific needs of various users, particularly those from underserved groups, and are tailored to improve the standard workplace facilities. For instance, the noisy side of these stories could include features like chicken and rooster cages, while the quieter side might encompass designated smoking areas for the staff on both sides of the building.
The project›s function is linked to the idea of restoring and preserving the ecosystem through the optimization of polymer materials. Our main architectural concept aimed to demonstrate optimization within the building itself. As a result, we achieved spatial design qualities that can be described as «enlivening» and, in a way, equivalent to optimization. In simpler terms, this factory is an example of restoration and revitalization in both form and content. Just as the devices in the process department of Shamim Polymer Factory are designed to create special polymer products using different materials and enhancing polymer properties, Form Bana also strives to reflect this performance by bringing some of its elements to life.
This movement can be seen in all parts of the factory building from part to whole. Sometimes defamiliarizing the common form of things has helped to bring them to life, such as the unusual use of raw iron sheets as walls and ceilings, and sometimes we tried to add a different form of them to the work plan by telling stories for the spaces. To carry out both parts of this process, our source of inspiration was the factory workers as the main users of the space. They were the ones who helped to create this space by planning their needs, hobbies, and concerns, and most importantly, their spatial requirements during the design and construction of the project.
Although the walls of the factory are limited, the storytelling of the walls of the building was designed with an open end. A row of chickens and roosters singing songs and picking seeds are placed on top of the one-meter block wall around the area as if the wall is equipped with a living sky. This free chicken coop was added to the project at the suggestion of one of the employees during the construction process. Adding details based on the needs and requests of employees to the factory architecture is aimed at collective participation; Details that are in line with the architectural goals of the project. With this technique, we have designed a satisfactory building for the employees and we give the employees the comfort to be with us in the construction and design of the place that is their second home.
Paying attention to the livelihood and human dignity of the employees under the shadow of the narrative of the geometric suspension of Ahjam through intrusion and possession of their familiar faces.
The secret of bringing the building to life is in the stories that we have included in the corners of the building. Happy that we have been able to convince the employer to reach this asymmetric parallelogram from the usual form of factories, we installed laches for employees to rest and smoke on the east and west sides to make the main concept of the design in their favor. The random hatches opened in the walls, which are now placed on the walls of these resorts, make the place transparent and create a sense of continuity. In conversation with employees and employers, we found that «smoking time» is one of the most challenging topics in most industrial environments. The lack of a fixed place for smoking, the uncertainty of the working status of employees when smoking, the employer›s dissatisfaction with the gathering of employees, etc., were among the issues that were considered to be the concern of both sides. Our solution for this problem was the main concept of the design; Two completely transparent, green, and connected to the open space where employees can spend their rest and smoke their cigarettes peacefully while maintaining their human dignity. Even in the design of the stairs, we were looking for an element of life. In the end, the factory›s white staircase became something like an asymmetric movement of the row of stairs in the southeast corner of the building, which increases more and more in its suspension as it goes higher. We have made this suspension a function of enlivening. For example, this situation of suspending inanimate objects to bring them to life can also be seen in the shell of the building. Where the sheet of iron is exposed to the sun, wind, and rain so that it takes on a color every day, and one day it becomes the color of the plains of Eshtehard and becomes one with its background.
For some walls of the project, we looked for local materials of the region; Not in the sense of finding the historical roots, but we sought to show attention to the economic prosperity of the region by using the production materials of the nearby factories and to use materials that are familiar to the future employees of the factory. The random process of stacking cement blocks, that is, cement blocks that are not very similar to the production of nearby factories, helped us to remember the presence of the project staff in this building.
