Why Architects Group has converted a residential building in Mashhad, Iran, into a commercial showroom for the Bouzarjomehr Company, adding a generous outdoor staircase leading to a public roof terrace.
The Iranian architecture studio transformed an existing dilapidated house to create a showroom space for the company, which specialises in distributing cables and wire.

Rather than demolishing and replacing the existing building, local office Why Architects Group chose to retain usable parts of the structure and create a new public space for the area.
The design aimed to respect the heritage of the neighbourhood and fit in with the surrounding context, while introducing a new architectural intervention and programme to the site.

"The collective memory of the old neighbourhood's population played a decisive role," the architecture studio explained. "So this project had to empower the neighbourhood's already devastated public space due to unplanned commercial development in the residential areas."

A front yard was transformed into a miniature public plaza that functions as an extension of the pavement, in order to enhance the connection between the building and the public domain
The building can be isolated from the street using a retractable metal fence. When this is pulled aside the entire area in front of the showroom is accessible. A brick bench occupying a shaded spot between two trees on the pavement invites the public to linger.

An oversized s...