Renovation and Functional Alteration of Machinchian Flour Factory

IAUCTB

Project idea

There are numerous invaluable ancient buildings all around the world with a potential to become a turning point with a particular atmosphere, enhancing the quality of the environment; yet, they are abandoned, subject to gradual deterioration. Even worse, some of these places have turned into gathering points for homeless, drug-dependent people, causing social issues and decreasing the level of security and the quality of the living environment.
Mashin-chian flour factory is a beautiful, valuable building with a long history in industry. Currently, it is totally abandoned, and it has turned into a social issue. The idea of the current project is to rehabilitate, revive and change the function of this invaluable building, so that with the presence of different people, as they enter and exit the building, this obsolete place turns into a dynamic, artistic space in order to improve social and cultural quality of its environment.

Project description

The project is located in outskirts of Qazvin, a city in Iran. Currently, it is an obsolete building, causing certain issues. It was the first huge industrial factory in Qazvin, which consists of three stories. The buildings in its vicinity include garages, vehicle repair shops and tool stores, which surround the suburban houses as well as this particular building, and decrease the quality of life in this district.

Technical information

In order to create new spaces and add them to the old building, its walls have to be reinforced. For this purpose, a separate structure is designed and integrated into the building in order to bear the loads of all glass surfaces and newly added parts.
The new expansion in the northern part includes library and office spaces, while gallery spaces are located in the upper floors of the main building, all connected via a staircase which acts as a viewing point.
Some of the main spaces, such as ateliers and art workshops are located in the site’s landscape, below ground level, so that that they do not disturb the beauty of the main historical building. Also, the continuous glass ceiling emphasizes the same point, as it reflects the sky and adds to the shininess of the atmosphere of this space.