National Iranian Gas Company Headquarters

Covering over 150 hectares of military-owned land in northeast Tehran, the masterplan is based upon the idea of reviving Saltanat Abad Garden as a green magnet at the center of a newly born neighborhood. Spanning the Sayyad Shirazi Highway and Pasdaran Street, the masterplan potentially bridges two of the busiest traffic corridors in the area with an extensive network of publicly accessible pedestrian walkways, parks and gardens. The figure-ground typology is based on Iranian traditional urbanism in which series of interconnected courtyards and pathways produce an urban mesh of interlocking public-private zoning that functions not only on the surface but between different height codes as well. The NIGC HQ is designed as an integral part of the masterplan. It provides the public with meticulously crafted accessways to the garden while maintaining a strict zoning in terms of accessibility within the boundaries of the site.  

How the NIGC HQ would function as a mixed-use complex is heavily dependent on the  public-private zoning strategy. While including demanding programs in terms of security and accessibility such as administration at NIGC, the complex needs to be received by the city as an integral part of everyday life. To address the issue we employed a threefold solution to achieve a reasonable balance between various programs.

Located at the highest corner of the site, the HQ has been designed as a self-sustaining complex within itself. In this scenario, even without any of the other buildings on the site the tower would still be completely functional. A separate parking entrance and exit, access to a 3500 m² covered plaza that accommodates large-scale events and also offers access to a full-scale canteen for all personnel and guests on top of all regular office-related areas would guarantee a high-quality working space.

We integrated public spaces into the plan within the whole complex while using sections to maintain a very rigid and visible separation between these spaces and private zones. As a result, for every public passage there is a private equivalent that bridges over or tunnels under that passage. Every part of the office program is interlinked through these over-and-under passages.

We added programs to the complex that are not only usable for the public but for personnel too, who can simply enjoy them in the course of working hours. A day-care center, for example, can be a crucial part of every large-scale corporate environment. Usage by personnel enables children to receive better care while parents remain in the immediate proximity at a respective work location. A science center along with a cluster of galleries, restaurants and cafés adjoining the sport center at the complex – all with direct access to the Saltanat Abad Garden as a key factor – would create a versatile environment in which visitors and personnel would be able to make contact and spend time with one another.