Artiman Residential Building

Unfinished and abandoned buildings create a myriad of social , cultural, legal, economic, and environmental problemsin cities around the world. Tehran, for example, has nearly 1,300 such structures, which disrupt the urban landscape and vitality. Among these is a notable project involving a long-standing residential building, initially left as an unfinished structure. It features a classical design with 15 floors, but lacks modern amenities such as recreational spaces, adequate parking, and essential services, demanding a serious overhaul or complete redevelopment.

The decision to demolish this building would not only waste substantial land resources but also consume enormous amounts of energy and release a significant volume of carbon and pollutants into the environment, creating considerable disturbances for the local community. By choosing not to demolish, the project significantly reduces the annual input of construction waste into the environment, while also cutting down on carbon emissions, water usage, and the production of construction-related dust.

The project's goal is to refurbish and preserve the existing structure, transforming its outdated appearance into a design that fits modern standards. The primary challenge was to find a balance between preserving elements worth retaining and implementing necessary extensive modifications.

The design process started with a strategic revision of the project's boundaries, aiming to eliminate outdated Euclidean geometries. This effort helped create a more fluid and cohesive interior and exterior. The redesign effectively dismantled the rigid lines of the original plans, blending the elements to subtly define spaces without clear separations. A key feature of the new design is a series of semi-open terraces, each ranging from 30 to 100 square meters, encircling the floors to provide a 360-degree view and seamless access to outdoor spaces without needing to traverse indoor areas. These terraces foster a connection between indoor and outdoor environments, adapting to varying spatial needs and capacities of the design.

From a structural perspective, influenced by advanced non-linear dynamic analyses, it was determined that replacing the four existing concrete floors with newer, taller steel structures would best meet contemporary technical and engineering standards. The building originally featured a specialized concrete core; the redesign included requests for seismic retrofitting and additional floors, which introduced unique challenges such as retrofitting the existing structure, designing an upper steel framework, and integrating connections between the new upper steel and existing lower concrete structures.

Ultimately, the redevelopment transformed the building into a 22-story complex, consisting of 15 residential floors and 7 floors dedicated to recreational and service facilities, situated on a plot of 5,200 square meters. The project underwent rigorous structural analyses to ensure its resilience against potential future earthquakes, prioritizing safety and sustainability in its innovative design.