Being handed a half-finished project can be one of the most challenging tasks offered to an architect. The Saman Satellite project was offered to us when its structure was halfway established in the Technology campus park, where a new definition of office functionality began to emerge.
The existing state of the skeleton and project path had deviated from the original architectural plan designed by another architectural firm due to the decision of the stakeholder. They have also changed its overall structure. Also, the client decided to add new spaces to the existing skeleton.
For us, the main goal in carrying out this project was to create a culture of cooperation to advance the hybrid design as the outcome of the two architectural firms. The new idea for the project was to evolve the concept of its previous structure and design to create new potentials with another thought for the project to reach aligned results.
In such projects, where the initial designer has completed a part of the work, usually, when another architect accepts to carry out the rest of the procedure, the step is not taken to continue and develop the initial idea. Therefore, the outcome will vary from the initial idea.
Our design policy was to direct the direction of maintaining the overall character and creating a complementary potential. To do so, we have taken several approaches.
In the first step, we decided to create a landscape in addition to interacting with the project itself, but also with the whole park. The added section to the initial plan was revised in the form of a porch for the public use of the entire complex to emphasize the initial net volume and strengthen the plan while reducing the emphasis on unwanted changes in the initial plan.
Following the client's requirements, we had to add new spaces to the existing skeleton as a new joint building. As the design policy was based on aligning toward the initial design, we decided to organize additional spaces in the basement of the landscape instead of forming on the ground; With this method, instead of adding new formal elements, we reduced it to create a landscape for the project and the whole park, which plays a role as an open public plaza.
One of the other achievements of this design policy was the creation of a blank in-between space for the project to form a border between the existing and former design and the additional parts created afterward to respect the initial design criteria. The in-between space provided connection and interaction with the project's macro site.
The middle space creates a garden throughout the project, and the newly added section provides light, ventilation, and communication between different criteria and interior parts.
The creation of a public space for people inside the project and outside the site is provided by the additional parts that have a complementary role in such a way that in addition to its sloping roof, it plays the role of communication in the site between the existing and the upcoming form. But as a part of the landscape, it also provides a space for people and pedestrians to explore inside the complex to increase its interaction with the park as an office whose functionality is based on interaction, as well as providing light for different spaces through the alley of the surrounding gardens and skylights from the roof in some parts.
Aligned with the initial design criteria the material of the project was designed as a neutral one (washed cement) to keep the emphasis on the net form of the building; This material also has been extended from the outside to the inside.
Also, transparent material was chosen, alongside neutral material dragging the connection of the interior and exterior while being loyal to minimizing the variety of the colors and material through the layers.
The layering of internal transparent surfaces in the project provides a visual connection between the corridors, public zones, and the workspace between the two outer layers of the facade simultaneously in the vertical and horizontal axes.
In conclusion, while many of the projects have well-defined initial potential. But for various reasons, the project was left out of the hands of the original architect. Afterward, while being handed to another architect in the second stage of the project the initial idea or the fundamental nature of the design was destroyed or drifted away.
Therefore, the result became transmissive, leading to the loss of energy and capital.
The experience of projects like this, which ultimately ends in a communal process, has a higher value regardless of the result, and it will also cause the growth of the culture of architectural cooperation and its development to reach a hybrid and dynamic result that not only will not outshine one another but also can reach a more responsive solution.
Team:
Client: Saman Satellite Communications Group
Architects: Hooman Balazadeh (hooba design group), Arash Mozaffari (EMA Office)
Design Team: Parima Jahangard, Neda Dehghani, Babak Toosipour, Mona Razavi
Phase 2 Manager: Neda Dehghani
Phase 2 Team: Neda Dehghani, Babak Nasirabadi, Dariush Ghorbani
Architecture Surveillance: Danial Shamloo
3D Renders: Mona Razavi
Presentation: Matin Rostami, Sara Maleki
Photo Credit: Deed Studio
