Hooman Balazadeh

• Name — Hooman Balazadeh • Born — 1978 • Occupation — Architect • Practice — Hooba Design Group • Significant Projects — Kohan Ceram Central Office Building Aptus Factory Showroom Espriss Café Ozgol Apartment Hitra Office and Commercial Building • Awards — RIBA International Award for Excellence (2021) RIBA International Emerging Architect (2021)

Balazadeh received a master's degree in architecture in 2003 and subsequently worked for two years as a member of the design team at Shirdel & Partners. He established Hooba Design in 2007. The architecture publication Metalocus dates the firm's formal establishment in Tehran to 2009. The firm's published work includes residential, commercial, hospitality and industrial projects. Accounts of its projects frequently discuss the relationship between building envelopes, daylight, ventilation and materials produced by the clients, particularly brick and concrete. Balazadeh's Shah Karam commercial and residential building was also included in a peer-reviewed study of ornament, form and constructional detail in 92 buildings completed in Tehran after 1979.

Espriss Café is a 28-square-metre interior completed in Tehran in 2014. The project is located near shops associated with Iranian handicrafts. Its interior uses a continuous brick arrangement in which the turquoise-glazed faces of selected bricks become visible from different positions. Lighting and ventilation equipment were incorporated into the brick composition rather than treated as separate decorative elements. The project received the jury award in the restaurant category of the 2015 Architizer A+ Awards. It also received first place in the interior-design category of the 2015 2A Asia Architecture Award.

The Ozgol Apartment is a small residential building in northern Tehran. Its circulation was moved to a longitudinal semi-open staircase connecting the rear yard with an open void at the front of the building. The arrangement was intended to provide daylight and cross-ventilation on each floor. A flexible balcony can function as open, semi-open or enclosed space according to weather conditions. Architizer listed the building as the 2019 Popular Choice winner in its low-rise multi-unit housing category.

The Aptus Factory Showroom in Karaj combines indoor and outdoor display areas with administrative spaces for a concrete-block manufacturer. Separate functional volumes are arranged around planted spaces, and concrete blocks made by the client are used for both exterior and interior surfaces. The project received first place in the public-buildings category of the 20th Memar Award in 2020. It was also a finalist in the showroom category of the 2021 Architizer A+ Awards.

The Sharif Office Building, also published as the Peykasa Office Building, is located near Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. It was developed over a partly constructed structure. Its brick envelope refers to the material used in the university's buildings from the 1960s, while the internal layout was developed for shared office use. The building was a finalist in the mid-rise office category of the 2021 Architizer A+ Awards.

The Kohan Ceram Central Office Building is a mixed-use headquarters beside Tehran's Sattari Expressway. The design adapted an existing structure to contain a showroom, sales and administrative offices, parking and a residential unit. Working with the client, a brick manufacturer, the design team developed a perforated component described as a “spectacled brick”. The components form a double-layer envelope and can be left open, insulated or fitted with cylindrical glass inserts. Voids behind the envelope admit daylight and air and provide space for vegetation. The building received first place in the public-buildings category of the 2019 Memar Award. RIBA subsequently selected it for a 2021 International Award for Excellence and the International Emerging Architect award.

For the Hitra Office and Commercial Building in Tehran, the design team moved a required open area from the centre of the plan toward the building's outer edge. The resulting voids connect office floors with planted terraces. Its outer envelope combines brick modules with fixed and movable metal frames to control openings, daylight and views. Hitra received second place in the public-buildings category of the 21st Memar Award in 2021.