Villa Alborz

Location: Hashtgerd, Alborz Province, Iran

Architect: Babak Mottalebnejad & Morvarid Ghasemi Isfahani , Art of City Engineering Consultants

Client: Mehrshad Alborz

Material: Concrete & Glass & Metal

Design date: 2005

Built area: 200m²

Studio: Art of City Engineering Consultants

Architects: Babak Motalebnejad, Morvarid Ghasemi

Structure Consultant: Mehdi Kermani, Hiva Mardoookhrohani

Modeling and Rendering: Mohammadhasan Tavangar

Graphic: Nasim Fathi

Story:

Text provided by the architects:

There is an internal contradiction in the scheme of this design. The pristine natural setting of the foothills of the Alborz Mountains on one hand, and the existing slopes and vegetation, on the other hand, made it virtually impossible to add anything of the like to either catch up with the beauty of the site or match by blending into the surroundings. Therefore, the original concept was formed as a distinct mass against the surrounding environment, paying respect to the entirety of the site while also adding value to the landscape.

A cube was chosen as the basic mass of the building following a tendency towards a simple form removed of any extravagance so that its reflective and transparent envelope could cast back the surrounding environment and smoothly blend with it.

The site features access from its highest elevation, from where the sloping hillside extends under the feet of the observer, providing enchanting views hard to be ignored in the design. The cantilever positioning of the cubic mass stresses this sense of suspension while also ensuring minimal impact on the land. The mass was, in the first step, broken down into three parallel cubes so that access was ensured to its innermost spaces, transparency of the interior was maintained, and penetration of nature into the arrangement of cubes fulfilled. In the next step, the two side cubes were re-positioned as radial arrays of the central cube in order to provide more extensive panoramic views in different directions.

This division of three also helped organize the activities; one cube was allocated to the rest zone, one to the living zone, and one to the entertainment zone. Each cube was then stretched or squeezed along its longitudinal axis so much as to fit the required spaces for the intended activities.

Ultimately, three concrete shells encrust the three masses at their supported ends. These shells function to both cover the structure and enhance the visual connection with the natural context. By joining the three shells together, linking spaces such as the vestibule and the hallway are created, while on the other hand, views toward the hillside from the public passage on the access grade are limited.

After completion of the schematic design, the main challenge was developing the construction techniques necessary to build a 14 m cantilever without the need for any retaining structures or propping or any type of earthwork on the sloping land. Nevertheless, [the conditions of the] access passage and the significant slope of the site prevented the use of heavy construction machinery for the erection of prefabricated elements. Consequently, construction engineering comprised an impactful phase of the design process.

For the construction, first, piles are cast in place as required on the higher grades of the site adjacent to the access passage. The number and depth of piles [for each mass] depend on the length of the cantilevers they are meant to support. In the next step, the floors, and then the walls and roofs of the concrete shells are cast, making three in-situ concrete boxes with fixed connections to the ground that support the projecting cubes. Next, the Truss Structure is set up and joind firmly to the concrete shells. Then the joists for supporting the floors and roofs, and lastly, the glass envelopes are installed. In this manner, it is as though the building forms by the extension of its cross-section rather than the extrusion of its plan.

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