TEHRAN -- Hooba Design’s projects most often benefit from a double layered design; a solution that renders the buildings energy efficient and also acts as a sanctuary for the people inside it. The material of the outer layer is chosen based on the climate of the site – such as bricks that are a traditional building element of Iranian cities- and they are most often made by local providers. The second inner layer of the buildings is often glass. It would give the feeling of transparency to the users while the outer layer keeps them protected from heat, cold and pollution. This double layered design allows for the building to be closed and opaque during the mornings and become transparent and illuminated during the night as light seeps out of it.
On the subject of wellbeing, greenery is an inseparable part of the works of Hooba Design. Whether in the environment of the Aptus factory or on the upper levels of Sharif multi floor building dedicated to technology research, Hooba Design tries to make a space for plants as a crucial element for the wellbeing of people and the city. This challenge to bring greenery closer to the building and its inhabitants has resulted in beautiful and poetic designs and has emboldened the importance of in-between spaces; such as the space between the cubic buildings of Aptus factory where a lone tree or a small pond resides, or the small sky gardens in Sharif building.
For Hooba Design, the users of the buildings are not merely the people who spend a significant amount of time inside it but also include the people who pass by the project and see it from the outside. Moreover, they treat the building as a component of the city that can improve the living conditions of the urban space. They strive for their building not to add a problem to the city’s issues, but to provide a solution. Working in the denseness of the Iranian capital, they do not see the city as a mass of apartment buildings and are not afraid to break the old patterns. For instance, if the sloped site of their project is causing a challenge for the citizens and if its pedestrian walk is too narrow, such as in the Hitra project, they create a plaza where people can linger and walk.
To Hooba Design, painstaking attention to detail is the core of a successful design. It is the obsessive attention to every aspect that creates a greater whole in the end. Just like a building that has a significant effect on the aesthetic and well-being of the urban space, every single material and technique in the design can have a substantial effect on the whole form of the architecture and the wellbeing of its users.
From the smallest brick to every ray of light that would find itself inside the building is meticulously planned. Although the thorough details might go unnoticed at first in the chaos of the city, the building sits patiently and is gradually discovered by the citizens as the architects prefer to avoid unthoughtful and rapid impressions and wish for the people to develop a more in-depth understanding of their work.
Through the years, Hooba Design has focused on various topics such as light, color, the connection between architecture and the city, building materials and the development of spatial diagrams in the Persian Architecture; studies that are observable in their projects. With each project they pose new questions and are not afraid to set challenges and strive to find the best solution for a design that would benefit the people, the building and the city. Concluded