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all the public spaces are organized under a vault, to offer inhabitants and visitors a sense of delight combined with a memory of the area's historic character.

ayeneh office edited by christina petridou August 31, 2021 3 min

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a house under a large vault based on the rib-vault pattern

ayeneh office designed a dwelling organizing all the public spaces under a vault, to offer inhabitants and visitors a sense of delight combined with a memory of the area’s historic character. the brief called for the design of an economical one-floor structure settled on a small size plot in najafabad, iran. in an attempt to integrate the entire body and ceiling of the building, the architects utilized vernacular stones that were economical and found in the region.

all images courtesy of farshid nasrabadi

the residence implements a simple plan

ayeneh office employed a very simple plan with a living room and dining room set on the south, a narrow one-walled kitchen on the west, and two bedrooms with lower height placed on the north side. since the open part of the land was too small to create a southern yard and the fact that, the client asked for a one-story building, part of the roof acted as a vibrant space along the yard in the north. a staircase on the west side, adjacent to the path, provides access to the roof of the bedrooms.

ayeneh office arranges a house under a large vault based on the rib vault pattern seen in the historical houses in najafabad 2 — entrance

maintaining privacy from passersby and neighboring homes

the northwest corner of the building had to be beveled due to its position in the alley, so because of this retreatment, an entrance was created. in this way, entering the house is possible from the distance between the private and the public areas. to maintain privacy and be protected from the passers-by eyes, the structure is surrounded by a wall, that also modifies the shape of the land. a part of the curved roof is glazed acting as a display, letting a visual connection between the interior space and the upper yard.

ayeneh office arranges a house under a large vault based on the rib vault pattern seen in the historical houses in najafabad 4 — recessed entrance

ayeneh office arranges a house under a large vault based on the rib vault pattern seen in the historical houses in najafabad 3 — west façade

ayeneh office arranges a house under a large vault based on the rib vault pattern seen in the historical houses in najafabad 5 — south façade

ayeneh office arranges a house under a large vault based on the rib vault pattern seen in the historical houses in najafabad 6 — roof view

ayeneh office arranges a house under a large vault based on the rib vault pattern seen in the historical houses in najafabad 7 — the wall maintains privacy and security

ayeneh office arranges a house under a large vault based on the rib vault pattern seen in the historical houses in najafabad 8 — kitchen

ayeneh office arranges a house under a large vault based on the rib vault pattern seen in the historical houses in najafabad 9 — living room and dining room

project info:

name: the single-vault house
architects: ayeneh office

design team: ali soltani, atefeh karbasi, ali dehghani, noushin hosseini, saba masoudinejad, arman asgharloo

location: najafaabad, iran

area: 122 sqm

photography: farshid nasrabadi

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.