Description
Apartment 210, with 11 residential units and total area of 2500 square meters has constructed in a land of 1000 square meters in the second phase of Mehrshahr district in Karaj. Unit's area varies from two-bedroom 115 square meters to three-bedroom 210 square meters. Construction of this project began in summer 2012 and was completed in spring 2014.
- Design Context Problem Statement
Mehrshahr could be named as the only survivor of urban garden fabrics of karaj city, but this district has not been kept intact from damages of dense urban development. However Mehrshahr still is considered as one of the highest quality urban fabrics of karaj due to existence of gardens and green networks as well as lack of construction.
The main problem of this neighborhood is the rapid development and increasing human density in emerging apartment buildings as well as changes in urban spaces. Accordingly, housing quality improvement of medium-density residential apartments is delineated as the most important question of the project and general and detailed ideas are proposed to respond to this issue by architectural solutions. Therefore it has been attempted to improve quality and quantity of spaces, versus masses, in public and private realms by studying the projects context as well as combination and balance between mass and building space. Also better response to various social, cultural, economic needs of residents is provided by a variety of housing patterns and structures.
One of the most important features of residential spaces in urban gardens is the significance of open and green spaces. Relation of residential spaces with yard and garden is immediate and spending time in open spaces is of high importance in everyday life. In spite of high density buildings, role of residential open spaces has been studied in this project and building spaces are organized from interaction of open and closed spaces in public and private realm.
Vertical circulation of building is used for development of vertical public open spaces. For example flowerboxes, trees and greenery alongside the vertical path create green terraces and yards, therefore circulation between apartments have been provided by public open spaces. Residential openings are restricted to terraced yards in order to control overlook of public spaces to apartments. Introverted identity along with the brick walls are reminiscence of residential quarters. Also façade has been transformed to two parts by creating a section through building, namely an extroverted part in public realm and an introverted part for better natural light and views in private apartments.
This vertical corridor is connected directly to the yard and street which could be considered as an urban space and offers a different perception from neighborhood unit patterns. Also diverse sequences with different characters are created, ranging from dark to light spaces, narrow vertical path to wide terraces and partially enclosed spaces to open courtyard which increase the attractiveness of this urban space. Moreover terraced spaces act as a local democratic venue for all residents including different ages and interests due to functional diversity, various views and good accessibility.
One of the most important spaces in Mehrshahr residential patterns are terraces and balconies which overlooking the green spaces. In this project, due to the potential of neighborhood’s green spaces, one story terraces for single units and two-story terraces for duplex units are designed.
With the increasing development process in urban construction and mass production, meeting the diverse needs of residents is one of the major challenges in the planning and design of such apartments. Generally architects do not have a detailed information about specific needs of future residents, thus architects’ role will be transformed from a designer to planner and final pattern of housing will be achieved from the meeting of design and planning in such projects. Variety of patterns and residential spaces in response to residents' social diversity are considered as one of the most important ideas of the project. This helps to address a larger population and provides better adaption with the various requirements of residents. The apartment is comprised of two and three bedrooms units, however spatial organization and arrangement of the interior spaces provides various alternatives and consequently the entire building has formed with eleven different units.
Also building was built on the north side of the plot while eastern neighbor of the project is an urban green space. Generally in the north located plots, natural light and views are provided only from the south side. According to Mehrshahr building’s construction codes, keeping distance from edges of adjacent buildings provides light, however openings should not be overlooked by adjacent buildings. In this way, light will be caught by small openings that are placed on top of the walls which actually reduces the quality of light and views. For this reason, catching light and creating views are considered as one of the most important challenges for such apartments. To control these two important factors in residential spaces, several solutions were used simultaneously as following:
- Maximum lighting from main front
With regards to visibility and direct light of southern and eastern fronts, all main spaces are organized on the edge of these two fronts.
- Balcony as a spatial filter
Balconies are used as a spatial filter in order to catch light from north and west fronts. These spatial filters are created to avoid from creation of overlooked residential spaces. In other words, residential spaces are connected directly to the terraces through large vertical openings. Therefore problem of overlooked spaces are solved by terraces buffer. Also terraces provides betters lighting and views for residential spaces.
There is always an opportunity to take advantage of natural light from ceiling on the upper floors. This strategy is used as one of the most important natural lighting methods in interior spaces. Natural lighting from stair’s roof of the north duplex unit provides direct light for spaces located in the north front. Also natural light defines dining spaces and provides day and night sky views for interior space. In addition, part of western apartment lights are supplied indirectly by lobby’s skylights.
