The initial concept of APARAT Headquarters (known as the YouTube of Iran), was established by two fundamental questions. First, we analyzed how we can re-define and create an open space that fosters a conductive collaboration between employees within an existing building.
Design Team: Mahdi Alibakhshian, Reza Zia, Alireza Shakouri, Maryam Laleh, Amirali Alibakhshian, Connor Van Cleave, Ali Sasanian, Soroush Sasanian
Project Local Design Coordinator & Contractor: Alireza Shakouri Moghadam
Design Consultants: Nathaniel Hadley – Mohamadreza Mojahedi
Structural Engineering: Dr. AmirHossein Raeeszadeh
Local Steel Fabricator: Azmayesh Spiral Industry – Hokmabadi Cutting
Office Workstations Design: Qastic Lab
Local Wood Fabricator: Habibi Carpenters
Lighting Products: Topmet
Second, we explored creating Subspaces for independently operating offices which can take advantage of potential interactions through a series of interconnected common areas within the office environment.
Conceptual Gap
The idea of constructing a building within a building is explored by expanding the gap between corridors and offices. Similar to how the coastline connects land and sea, a gap between corridor and office is where Qastic’s design exploration emerged. By exploring and expanding this gap, the design and construction of bridges, double-height voids, planters, and collaborative voids brought dynamic double-height effect to Aparat’s space. As a result of the transparency created by the voids, conversations between employees on upper and lower floors happen at a greater efficiency during the work hours. The glass walls provide opportunities for all 75 work stations to take advantage of natural light and circulation across the entire 600 Sqm2 two-story space.
Event
The orthogonal geometry of office layout is being interrupted by a celebratory event that occurs at the center of the office. The event is the main central stairs that not only operates as a vertical travel element between floors – but also as an interior semi theater with seating that allows employees to gather, socialize, and on occasion watch projected videos. Draped over two steel beams, the stair structure provides a defined and semitransparent space for a café located at the underground level. Blurring its boundaries, this café space merges with the upper landscape of the corridor offices. Using30 x 5 cm tiling brick, the framework links the main entrance through its half vertical and horizontal stair, seamlessly connecting the entry all the way to the last wall of the second floor. Seeing brick tils so close and so far in a one point perspective expands the perceived entrance moment, allowing the space to read larger than its reality.
Moment
Inspired by Le Corbusier’s Modular drawing of Human stature and proportion; the stair meticulously proposes a variety of ergonomic functions and usages like sitting, seating, standing, leaning and squatting. This steel structure applies the technology of Plasma cutting for creating 5mm thick steel risers. Incorporating the curvatures of these risers, 5mm steels strips of tread are placed over the curvature of risers creating a coherent structural steel surface. By intersecting with the two main beams, the risers transfer loads from a high traffic space that may be used for daily inter-floor communication as well as 50-70 people gathering, presentation, or full office meetings.
