ChaharGah House

ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh

CHAHARGAH HOUSE

BonnArq Architects

LOCATION
Mosha, Iran

CLIENTS
Ahmad Mousavi

YEAR
2020

AREA
555 m²

CATEGORY
Houses

ARCHITECTURE FIRM
BonnArq Architects

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Behzad Atabaki, Parshia Qaregozloo

PHOTOGRAPHS
Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh, Archmetal

DRAWING AND PRESENTATION
Parsa Khademi, Maryam Honarvar, Mona Lahouti

MANUFACTURERS
AutoDesk, Knauf, Arch Metal, RESCARA, ASAŞ, Robert McNeel & Associates, Tabriz Tile

PROJECT MANAGER
Reza Farahbakhsh

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
BonnArq Architects

DESIGN TEAM
Yasaman Lashgari, Golshan Narimani

CONSTRUCTION
Hassan Farahhbakhsh

STRUCTURE
Behrang Baniadam

PROJECT MANAGER
Reza Farahbakhsh

*The word “ChaharGah” in Farsi is a combination of two words: “Chahar” that means “four”, and “Gah” which has two meanings; “Time/Period” and at the same time “Place/Location”. We translate “Gah” as “Sequence”, so project description and design process are described in “four” “sequences” as follows.

ChaharGah House
© Archmetal
ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh

SEQUENCE 1 :

The mountainous location of "Mosha", as a "garden-city" in the foothill of Damavand — which has pleasant summers but cold and harsh winters — formed our initial design idea, and led us to an integrated/ homogeneous metal cover; a material which has been used in the indigenous architecture of the region for many years.

In the east elevation, the cover has been opened from the heart of the house to the side garden's long poplar trees, while the west elevation is completely closed to protect it from the rain and the western seasonal wind and storm.

ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh

Sequence 2: Based on our design program, the roof ridge, in the prototypical form of the local sloping roofs, has been moved from its central symmetrical axis to a diagonal position making the south-southeastern distant landscape as well as the northern highlands mountains more visible.

ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh

At the same time, the diagonal ridge has been curved inwards to divide and create various spaces inside.

ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh

SEQUENCE3:
According to the project requirements and the program, we’ve designed the house in two independent spaces:

the first space, the ground floor, which is closely connected to the southern orchard-to-be, needed by the family as their recreational and sports space; and another space, the duplex at the top, which connects the interior to the surrounding landscape, and has been designed as the main space for relaxation, cooking and living, while the void over the living area helps the space to be extended up to the inward curve of the high roof.

ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh

SEQUENCE 4:

Finally, and in other words, the dialogue between the shell and the core of the building leads to a compromise in the form of a hyperbolic geometry, which is manifested in the interrelationship between the core and the integrated and continuous shell.

As a result, it places the house in line with the plot of the orchard in a north-south direction. Moreover, the transparency of the south façade allows the light and beauty of the nearby field to be drawn in; summer green field and winter snowscapes.

ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh

And at the same time on the east and west sides, it restrains the forces of nature.


ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh

ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh

ChaharGah House
© Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh


ChaharGah House
Ground Floor Plan
ChaharGah House
First Floor Plan
ChaharGah House
Second Floor Plan


ChaharGah House
Site Plan
ChaharGah House
Circulation Diagram
ChaharGah House
Structural Diagram


ChaharGah House
Cross Section
ChaharGah House
Longitudinal Section


ChaharGah House
East Elevation
ChaharGah House
South Elevation


ChaharGah House
Shell Design Process
ChaharGah House
Design Process