Architects: Fluid Motion Architects – Reza Daneshmir, Catherine Spiridonoff
Location: Tehran, Iran
Project team: Bijan Vaziri, Arash Javadi, Amir Badiei, Akram Lolaei, Elaheh Najafi, Iman Nedaei, Mohammad Mehrabani, Majid Ahmadi, Iman Daneshvarnejad
Structural Consultant: Hamid Bastani Parizi (N.A.S Consulting Engineers)
Mechanical Consultant: Badri Rahimzadeh
Electrical Consultant: Amir Shaabanzadeh
Structural and Architectural Contractor: Nikan Niroo Co.
Mechanical And Electrical Contractor: Arkan Arzesh Co.
Cinema Instruments: Masoud Roostaei
Environmental Graphic: Peyman Banishoraka
Client: Development of Cultural Spaces Co. (Tehran Municipality)
Project area: 6,000 sqm
Project year: 2003 – 2008
Photographs: Homauon Amir Yeganeh, Ali Daghigh, Ardavan Bidgoli, Maryam Jami, Reza Daneshmir



































Mellat Park Cineplex, located in the municipal district of 3 of Tehran in an extended and indefinite piece of land with the area of 6000sqm has been designed and constructed in the far south east side of Mellat Park. The floor area of this project are up to 15400 sqm which consists of 4 movie halls in total. Each hall able to occupy 300 persons, and a small performance hall with the capacity of 30 persons, along with exhibition areas, coffee shop, book and cd store, restaurant, offices & service areas.


Regarding the long and indeterminate shape of the site and the possibility to place to movie halls on the ground floor and 2 other movie halls a the basement, the spatial organisation of the project has been defined in a way to present an idea of space in accordance with the physical program and the structure of the project and also having interaction with the exquisite nature of the environment.


Hence, by connecting the rotating slopes of the two movie halls along one another, an extensive covered terrace was created which is the main achievement of this project for the city, and will be a place to talk, to exchange ideas, to celebrate an occasion and a variety of other cultural and social events.
The main attributes of this project can be shortened in 5 main issues:
1.Finding lost spaces in the city to rehabilitate them to active urban spaces.
2. Accordance with the park environment and the perspective of the mountains in the north of Tehran.
3. Integration, Architecture, Structure and Program.
4. Creating a dialogue with the city through the generation of urban open spaces (covered terrace) and also its unconventional and impressive structure.
5. Posing the issue of movement and time through the creation of a flexible and variable structure along the project by employing general ramps; the dynamism and change has been presented both conceptually and literally.


Structural Concept
The structure for Mellat Park Cultural Complex comprises three separate blocks. The structural system for lateral blocks which are seen in the form of rectangles in the plan are designed in the form of deflective steel frames and reinforced concrete walls in lower floors, and deflective steel frames combined with steel bracing in the upper floor.
The structural system for intermediary block which has the most geometrical variations in all three directions of X, Y and Z is designed in the form of load bearing reinforced concrete walls. The concrete wall includes two longitudinal walls along the cinema halls and two latitudinal concrete walls in the end of each hall. This system is continued to the upper floor and a deflective steel structure with bracings in both directions has been used for the final roof. A complex structural system has been designed with several different elements including the load bearing concrete border beams which transfer the gravitational forces to the resting points in the concrete walls in the end, and the structural integration of these beams with the steel beams in the roof through the tubular columns which support the glass façade.
In some cased the forces from loads of beams have been transferred to the final roof through these columns, and in some cases the concrete beam has the role of resting for façade and steel roof.
But in general, most horizontal forces from dead and live loads have been balanced in the form of internal forces within the system, and only quake and soil forces create the one-way direction of load transfer in the system.
The load bearing system for floors (excluding the final roof) is in the form of reinforced concrete slabs and load distributing beams in both directions (in side blocks) and one way (middle block). In the final roof main and the main and the secondary steel beams and trapezoidal plates function as load bearing elements for deal, live and wind forces.
A 1 meter construction joint in the middle, with simultaneous construction from both sides has been devised to eliminate the shrinkage effects of concrete within the 70 meters of structure length.
The structural details have been designed in such a way to make the exposure of all concrete and steel elements viable.


Mechanical Equipments
Three boilers and two absorption chillers provide the generation of heating and cooling energy. The disposition of the installments vertically over each other, vertical risers and the creation of a subsystems’ man-sized access tunnel along the project have facilitated the exploitation of technical installments.
The complex has the following technical equipments:
-22 air handling units,
- A computer-based intelligent building management system (BMS),
- A complete electrical emergency system with two generators
- Two concrete water reservoirs next to the project, each having the capacity of 150 m3
- Fire Extinction System including extinguisher capsules, rescue units and boxes, nozzles and fire alarm system, detecting and announcing the location of fire.
- The wastewater and sewage of the complex can be poured into the urban sewage network after refinement.


Finishing
Generally, the finishing in this project is the combination of three main materials, the concrete, artificial stones and steel sheets; therefore the concrete structure of the building includes all the curving and wavy interior walls and envelopes the saloons and also the longitude ramps, all exposed.
Some parts of the concrete interior walls have been designed and constructed with hammering texture, in order to offer a variety of textures.
All the horizontal surfaces are covered with artificial stones, respectively in navy blue in the lower level, in red in the ground floor and in African red in the restaurant and the food court level.
All the body surfaces, the exterior facades, the internal volumes in the two extremes, which holds the facilities and service functions, and all the suspended ceilings, that are implemented in strap-like finishing are in steel sheets that are prepared in a special hand-made processes of washing, sand blasting ,punching, cutting, bending, and coloring designed and produced exclusively for this project.
Source: via worldbuildingsdirectory