Morning Sunlight on the Copper facade
Mellat Bank, with its 3000 branches spread of the Country, is considered
one the most important Iranian banks. Due to the tough competition
among the Iranian banks for renovating their image, in January 2009,
Mellat Bank management asked the above-mentioned team to design a new
façade for its branches. In order to evaluate the sociological,
technical and visual consequences of such new corporate concept, the
bank decided to apply it first in the façade of an existing branch.
After a joint study with the Client’s experts, the designers selected
one of the main branches of the bank Located in Villa street in Tehran
for housing the “pilot project for the new corporate façade concept”.
Design principles:
The formal solution for the pilot project should have the flexibility of
being used in many different contexts and dimensions. For this reason
the designers didn’t make any reference to the surrounding buildings.
They created a homogeneous form with high graphical impact, that could
absorb and solve any situational variation, such as building plan,
openings, ATM, door, structural elements and security requirements,
without interrupting the continuous form of the façade or losing
identity.
The pattern used to create the façade is based on a simple geometrical
principle, first practiced on a A4 paper. The paper was cut along
several parallel lines. Consequently the strips of paper were bended on
their longitudinal axis with a variety of angles.
Anti-oxidation copper sheets were used to create the main form of the
façade. The color of copper could compensate the gray and smoggy
atmosphere of the Iranian big cities. Aluminum sheets were used to
reinforce the copper sheets and steel profiles used as sub-structure for
connecting the façade to the building.
Behind the copper façade there are burglarproof windows and a rollup
steel curtain as the last protection device.
The access to the bank is through a section of the façade that can move
up and down manually. A mechanical system based on pulleys and
counterweights allows operators pushing up or pulling down easily the
big section of the façade by hand
2 positions of the mechanical sliding door
Door detail
facade complete view from the main street
door detail
facade oppening
ATM machin
Facade under construction
Design concept model
execution instruction
facade drawings
