Kahrizak Residential Building #01 / CAAT Studio
Kahrizak Residential Building #01 / CAAT Studio
Description
The building was delegated to the architect at a time when 2 story of it was constructed and also client was very low at budget.
It was located in a square shape land, with 18m length each side. All three sides of the building were blocked, except south. Each story of the building contains 4 residential units with 50 sqm each unit area.
Design Considerations
Best solution in the condition described, was to focus on south units and the interaction between south elevation and the urban facade. First thing to be considered was the low cost budgets, therefore the key answer was use of regional sourced material, we found Brick as our answer, which also regional workmen were familiar with usage of that.
Secondly, there was a huge gap between resident’s lifestyle and the type of constructions happening in that region, for example; by observing the existing building in the neighborhood; balconies as a routine function in the facade were misused. People there needed different space requirements; they were adopting their spaces to their needs with basic solutions. They were blocking the balconies with masonry or even colorful glass, to hang their clothes, store their stuffs, or even have their pickle jars stored there.
That is where we started to think about a design, with understanding all those needs, to design first different residential building at Kahrizak. A building to fit in the requirements of local residents. Brick, firstly as inexpensive material and secondly as a modular material and proportion has many advantages to shape different arrangements, so it was definitely our best and only solution. The design strategy was to provide each space behind the south facade with proper brick arrangement module to support enough daylighting and storage requirement.
The Project Design
Brick modules were designed based on Iranian geometry pattern; each module was subservient by the function of the space behind it. Also with varieties in brick modules, they were speaking same language. That’s how it resulted in a smooth facade, to resemble both Iranian brick architecture and residentially of the building. Another point to be considered is that we wanted to taking advantage of local workmen, that were skilled in using brick and they could easily perceive the geometry used in the brick arrangement.
The main concept of this project is to resemble a key to close collaboration between Architect, Constructor and Client, minimum cost budget and considering local culture and life style of the residents.
Why brick
The choice of material was a significant parameter in this project too mainly because we had to choose something affordable and easy to freight to the site so we considered clay blocks which were produced in a factory nearby. Each module was designed in relation with the func-tion of the space behind it. Having variety in brick modules they are coherent and homophonic. That’s how it resulted in a smooth facade to represent both Iranian brick architecture and the essence of residential.
Location
Kahrizak is a deprived urban district located at South-West Tehran (Capital city of Iran), with a rapid growth and spread. It has hot and dry climate like most of the country. The population of this region is mostly working class with low income. Main purpose of the design was to modify a typology of residential buildings in this region, in which life style and social class of the population were considered.
