Shah-Karam project is a 16 storey office building with two underground floors dedicated to mechanical equipment, the ground and first floors forming the commercial units, and the upper 12 floors forming the office spaces. Considering the City regulations as well as the nearby public facilities, there was no parking requirement for this building.

The client’s desire was to have a variety of office spaces with areas ranging from 50 to 250m². This strategy divided each floor into 1 to 4 units. Considering the narrow width of the building relative to its height, the overall volume was divided into two sections both horizontally and vertically, defining the commercial and office sections of the building.

One of the main design criteria was to maximize the amount of sunlight exposure to the inner part of the building from the main openings on the south and north sides. A series of transparent partitions were implemented parallel to the north-south facades in the form of glass blocks. This strategy not only unifies the exterior facade with the interior dividers, but also provides most of the required light by natural lighting.

The main inspiration in the design of the window openings was the Orosi Windows in the Traditional Persian Architecture, in which stained glasses are used to form modular patterns.

The glass openings on the facade were formed in two layers, one was the main window layer and the other consisted of blue rectangular glass modules of 30*30 cm connected to the main layer by steel rods. These modules not only control the amount of sunlight penetration but also create a beautiful light and shadow pattern in the interior spaces.

In harmony with the glass modules, there is also a modular pattern used on the surface of the main glass layer using sandblast method. This pattern was formed based on the concept of “Expanding Geometry” in the Persian Architecture. Combination of the materials used on the facade reduces the amount of South heat gain up to %40.