Aperture
Located to the east of Tehran, Steel Form Factory’s multi-purpose building is aimed at providing a pleasant space fulfilling several functions, comprising of two offices, two residential units, a showroom and several locker rooms.
Steel Form Factory’s office building is aimed at providing a pleasant space fulfilling different functions such as several workplaces supporting the adjacent factory. When the architects were commissioned the job, the first floor construction was implemented and the architects were asked to design within a tight budget, therefore, a cubic simple form was chosen as the dominant mass.
As the building site was located in an industrial context and adjacent to the steel factory, the initial challenge seemed to be controlling the noise and vibration of the factory. The optimum solution seemed to be reducing the openings in size but increasing them in number that is where the idea of apertures formed. The sizes of the apertures change due to the amount of light and view each function demands. Moreover, increasing walls’ density could be effective on noise and especially vibration decrease. Therefore, walls are designed as integrated brick masses.
Brick adds a warm taste in contrast with the industrial cold atmosphere. Consequently, the architecture works as a landmark.
The project inherits its identity from the Steel Form Company hence apertures are covered with steel frames built from the factory’s waste. The light penetrating into spaces is transformed through the steel frames into soft shapes.
The dynamic spirit of the industrial context reflects through the arrangement of the apertures, to transfer a sense of movement from the factory to the main road view of the building where the steel frames gradually protruding from the wall forming the name of the factory within the texture. In the surrounding-walls the smaller brick modules displace out gradually to emphasize the dynamism.
During the evenings when the industrial neighborhood fades away in darkness the project is still alive spreading light throughout the apertures, emphasizing on the endless motion of the Steel Form factory.
