Designed by Alidoost & Partners, the Vira office building features an exterior design that filters natural light.
Located on Yousefabad Street, a central area in Tehran, a new office building by Iranian architecture practice Alidoost & Partners, features a facade that maximises transparency and filters natural light for the interior spaces.
Spanning 10,000 square metres, the project consists of eight floors for office use, a ground floor, and a basement floor that can be used for commercial functions. Beneath the basement are six parking levels. According to the architects, the scale of the project was of great importance — the surrounding urban fabric features buildings of varying scales and a “rigid texture” in terms of materiality.
The driving factor behind the facade’s appearance was that the architects had to choose a flexible design, as the client hadn’t yet decided how many floors the building would have. Thus, Alidoost & Partners, founded by Shahab Alidoost and Sona Eftekharazam, opted for an exterior that could be multiplied horizontally and vertically.
“Our challenge was to come up with a solution to create a rigid facade from an urban perspective on the one hand, and to maximise transparency on the exterior wall,” said the architects.
To achieve this, the second skin of the facade was designed as a combination of pre-fabricated vertical aluminium louvers attached to the curtainwall behind it, saving energy.
“The combination of the louvers with balconies and green space, as well as the light and shadow play on the office floors, will provide a visually pleasing experience for users,” the architects added.
