TAK POLYCOPY

Tehran | Ferdowsi | 2017

In February 2017, the project of renovating a Commercial store on Enghelab St. was presented to our office, the store used to be a printing machines & accessories in 80s, and the client wanted it with the same use as before.

Challenges:

1. New Municipal laws for organizing the historic urban image of Enghelab Street.

2. The need to provide enough space for storage and display of goods, as well as a hidden space for washing due to the small size of the store.

General design strategies:

Our general design strategy was formed in a way that, firstly, the interior space of the store is a concrete indication of its use and can meet the functional needs of the client.

Secondly, the facade of the store, while being new, can be contextual and be in harmony with the historical body of Enghelab Street.

Design process:

First, we considered the body of the store in the form of a brick cube as a representation of store's antiquity and to match the existing context. Then, due to the small dimensions of the store, we decided to remove the window to make it more inviting. Also, by examining the copy and print machines and how the paper moves in them, we considered a continuous page that starts from the facade, extends into the store and continues on the facade from the other side of the store. So, the store became a big printer that prints and displays its products on a big paper. As a result of the symbolic movement of the paper, curved corners were created, which in terms of form were in harmony with the elements found in the facades of the first and second Pahlavi eras on Enghelab Street. On the other hand, in order to hide the service spaces and storage at the end of the store and to create more continuity between the ceiling and the wall, another screen was drawn from the ceiling to the service spaces, and in this way, the end space was assigned to the storage and washing functions, which are hidden in closets.

Another idea of ours was to keep the text "Tak PolyCopy" on the old facade of the store as its well-known logo and display it in the entrance of the customers on the end face of the store.

Construction processes:

Considerations in the construction were: firstly, the material used had to be implemented on the same level, and secondly, due to the age of the building, it was necessary to use light material that had a high resistance to bear items burden.

According to our experience in the implementation of fluid surfaces, and the commercial use of the project, a special combination of FRP has been used, which can lead us to design strategies in the form of a membrane with a thickness of several millimeters, very low weight and high physical resistance.

The existing heating and cooling facilities were also heaters and water coolers, which we converted into floor heating and unit air-conditioner due to the lack of response to the physical and institutional needs.

Type: Commercial

Location: Tehran, Enghelab St., Before Ferdowsi Square

Client: Mr. Reza Ahmadi

Design Team: Shahab Ahmadi, Iman Hedayati, Maedeh Massah, Naghmeh Olfat, Niloufar Mohammadzadeh, Shiva Hakimian, Mitra Mohammadi

Construction: Hasht Architects

Electrical and Mechanical Facilities: Hasht Architects

Graphics Design: Hasht Studio

Graphic Associate: Ali Ahmadi

Photography: Saeed Fotouhi

Area: 18 square meters

Status: Built

Date: February 2016