In a former garden suburb of Tehran that is now heavily developed, an existing, single-storey 1940s building was renovated and expanded to create a new cultural centre with a focus on books; it contains shops for organic products, books, music, and toys, an exhibition gallery, a greenhouse café on the ground floor, and a covered rooftop restaurant. A seismic-resistant steel skeleton was introduced to strengthen the lower floor and to create the upper floor, and poured-in-place concrete was used for new structures; the upper-floor bookstore, conceived as a protruding tunnel, was crafted from rolled steel. Heating and cooling systems are evident in exposed ducts; extensive use of glass is made to open the interior spaces to the planted courtyard.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture