Kohan Ceram Central Office Building

Mixed-Use for HOOBA Design Group

This project is the headquarters for Kohan Ceram Brick Manufacturing Company, including showroom, sales office, and a guest unit. Situated alongside a highway in Tehran, this project marks the boundary between the residential neighborhood and the freeway in the urban fabric. The main criterion was to remain neutral in the urban scale while creating a tangible entity in the local scale. The brick were used as the main representative of the company. The brick module not only forms the façade, but also forms the entirety of the project both on the interior and the exterior.

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Kohan Ceram Central Office Building by Hooman balazadeh

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Mixed Use by Hooman balazadeh

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Hooman balazadeh Kohan Ceram Central Office Building

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Hooman balazadeh Mixed Use

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Kohan Ceram Central Office Building Mixed-Use Media Articles

Ready-to-feature articles on Kohan Ceram Central Office Building are available in these languages: Turkish, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Korean, Russian, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, German, French, Portuguese, Indonesian, Arabic (Standard), Hindi and English, for your convenience.

Unique Properties

Is it possible to unify the urban scenery by minimizing the formic expression of buildings as singular objects and emphasizing on the city as a whole? Unitizing different elements of the building including walls, windows, doors, etc., as well as reducing the variety of building materials could somehow address the so called issues. The project was designed as the headquarters for Kohan Ceram Brick Manufacturing Company. Preserving the existing concrete structure, it was decided to Design a special brick (by architect) to represent the factory. Now the question is, could this well-known building material move beyond its simple role and help changing the perceptions towards a complicated building and to combine different building elements to reach a new phenomenon? How could we reduce the visual disturbance in the urban scenery by introducing weak forms as building objects? The story of Kohan Ceram building was started when a new modular creature was formed called the “Spectacled Brick”. This little guy had transparency and solidity in one piece and could see the city from within. It worked as the masonry, the finishing, and the insulation at the same time but still wanted to be more than that. The Spectacled Brick not only formed the exterior façade, but also transformed from a surface into a volume which extended into the building in the form of modular greenspaces. Replacing ordinary walls and windows, these modules defined different spaces in the building. Therefore, the interior walls were formed by the extension of the exterior walls, following the main design criteria which was to merge dual qualities. Bringing the natural lighting inside spaces in a mysterious way, the Spectacled Brick delayed the perceptions towards the building. It made the building both introverted and extroverted during day and night. It strictly banned other materials to take part in the making of the building and always kept loyal to its geometry. Penetration was the favorite notion for the Spectacled Brick. Making use of its semi-transparent nature, it merged the exterior with the interior to fade the boundary between the two. The spectacled brick was aware of the ventilation and light exposure benefits caused by the penetration of exterior to interior and used this technique to organize spaces inside the building. The spectacled brick integrated building qualities such as interior and exterior, introversion and extroversion, façade and space, transparency and solidity, natural and artificial lighting, to create a new phenomenon which not only carries features form both components, but also introduces new values to the system. Therefore, design challenges were resolved by merging these dual components into unique elements. It also used this homogeneity to address the programmatic requirement of the project which included both commercial and residential spaces. It tried to expand the commercial aspect of the brick showroom to the exterior and eventually to the city. Therefore, the transitional role of the building as a complex of spaces in the building scale and a commercial object in the urban scale was formed.

Tags

Kohan Ceram Building , kohan ceram Factory , Kohan Ceram Brick Manufacturing Company , Kohan Ceram , Kohan Ceram Central Office

Production Technology

The story of Kohan Ceram building was started when a new modular creature was formed called the “Spectacled Brick”. This little guy had transparency and solidity in one piece and could see the city from within. It worked as the masonry, the finishing, and the insulation at the same time but still wanted to be more than that. The Spectacled Brick not only formed the exterior façade, but also transformed from a surface into a volume which extended into the building in the form of modular greenspaces. Replacing ordinary walls and windows, these modules defined different spaces in the building. Therefore, the interior walls were formed by the extension of the exterior walls, following the main design criteria which was to merge dual qualities.

Design Challenge

As mentioned in the previous section, the most challenging obstacle in this project was to come up with the optimum solution in the making of the brick-glass block. Many trial and error procedures were conducted in the making of the prototypes. The success of this time consuming procedure was realized with the help of the great teams working on both the brick and the glass components of the block.

Project Duration

The project started in March 2016 in Tehran and finished in August 2019.

Operation Flow

The spectacled brick integrated building qualities such as interior and exterior, introversion and extroversion, façade and space, transparency and solidity, natural and artificial lighting, to create a new phenomenon which not only carries features form both components, but also introduces new values to the system. Therefore, design challenges were resolved by merging these dual components into unique elements. It also used this homogeneity to address the programmatic requirement of the project which included both commercial and residential spaces. It tried to expand the commercial aspect of the brick showroom to the exterior and eventually to the city. Therefore, the transitional role of the building as a complex of spaces in the building scale and a commercial object in the urban scale was formed.

Research

There was a glass workshop in a close distance from the Kohan Ceram factory. This was the spark of a new idea which was to explore the possibilities of solid brick to be combined with cast glass. We started the experiment with direct casting of melted glass into the fire resistant brick blocks. A number of trial and errors resulted in a failed prototype with cracks in the brick block after the glass was cooled. Therefore, we decided to cast the glass separately and stick it inside the brick wholes using a special glue. These trial and error experiments where conducted to create a new brick typology which not only forms the entirety of this project but also could be applied in many other projects. This could eventually help many glass casting workshops to boost their business and to produce valuable products instead of low quality objects. Moreover, this new building block could boost the living quality of many “infill” projects around the country, by improving the light penetration quality inside the building envelope without altering privacy and overlook requirements.

Inspiration

How can a single building form strategic changes to the urban scenery? Is it possible to unify the urban scenery by minimizing the formic expression of buildings as singular objects and emphasizing on the city as a whole? Unitizing different elements of the building including walls, windows, doors, etc., as well as reducing the variety of building materials could somehow address the so called issues.

Image Credits

Parham Taghioff Deed Studio

Project Overview

Kohan Ceram Central Office Building Mixed-Use has been a Golden winner in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design award category in the year 2020 organized by the prestigious A' Design Award & Competition. The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.

Golden Recognition

Hooman balazadeh was recognized with the coveted Golden A' Design Award in 2021, a testament to excellence of their work Kohan Ceram Central Office Building Mixed-Use.

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