Ava Center

Ava Center is a combination of two different projects, a 4-story commercial building with necessary services and back up and a 6-story vertical parking lot, which was requested by the municipality in order to resolve the lack of parking places in the adjoining street. The Municipality also provided a permit for adding two levels of commercial spaces as a bonus to the client. Our main concern was to turn this heterogeneous program into a cohesive and unique architectural project with great potential.

Marketing

• Visual Design

• Narrative Story

• Marketing • Visual Design • Narrative Story •

The Challenge

Ava Center was constructed in one of Tehran’s most sought-after neighborhoods, where it faced intense competition from surrounding commercial spaces. This challenge was further compounded by city zoning regulations, which initially restricted the building to only two above-ground floors—posing a significant threat to the commercial complex’s long-term success. However, the city granted permission to add six additional floors under the condition that four of them be designated as public parking, helping to address the area's critical shortage of parking spaces.

The Design

The added public parking was a great solution for visibility but created the challenge of turning two very different functions into a heterogenous design. The vertical voids became the design’s focus in order to connect the inherently different spaces visually and functionally and allow air and light to flow to all the areas of the building.