Hooman Balazadeh (born 1978) is an Iranian architect and the founder of Hooba Design Group, an architectural practice based in Tehran. His projects include the Kohan Ceram Central Office Building, Aptus Factory Showroom, Espriss Café, Ozgol Apartment, Sharif Office Building and Hitra Office and Commercial Building. In 2021, the Royal Institute of British Architects awarded the Kohan Ceram building an International Award for Excellence and named Balazadeh and Hooba Design as that cycle's International Emerging Architect.
Career 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.
Selected works
Espriss Café 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.
Ozgol Apartment 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.
Aptus Factory Showroom 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.
Sharif Office Building 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.
Kohan Ceram Central Office Building 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.
Hitra Office and Commercial Building 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.
Awards and distinctions The table distinguishes project awards from firm-level recognition and records finalist or shortlist status separately from wins.
Year Award or distinction Project or recipient 2007 Second place, 7th Memar Award Ehsan Pood Textile Factory, designed with Abbas Riahi Fard and Kamran Heirati 2015 Jury Winner, Architizer A+ Awards, Restaurants Espriss Café 2015 First place, 2A Asia Architecture Award, Interior Design Espriss Café 2016 Third place, 2A Asia Architecture Award, Residential Villa Mehrshahr Villa 2019 First place, Memar Award, Public Buildings Kohan Ceram Central Office Building 2019 Popular Choice Winner, Architizer A+ Awards, Low-Rise Multi-Unit Housing Ozgol Apartment 2020 First place, Memar Award, Public Buildings Aptus Factory Showroom 2020 Architecture MasterPrize recognition Kohan Ceram Central Office Building 2020 Shortlisted, Dezeen Awards Kohan Ceram Central Office Building 2021 RIBA International Award for Excellence Kohan Ceram Central Office Building 2021 RIBA International Emerging Architect Hooman Balazadeh and Hooba Design 2021 Architizer A+ Awards finalist, Showrooms Aptus Factory Showroom 2021 Architizer A+ Awards finalist, Mid-Rise Office Building Sharif Office Building 2021 World Architecture Festival shortlist Aptus Factory Showroom and Kohan Ceram Central Office Building 2021 Gold A' Design Award Kohan Ceram Central Office Building 2021 Second place, 21st Memar Award, Public Buildings Hitra Office and Commercial Building 2021 Winner, Architizer A+ Firm Awards, Commercial Architecture Hooba Design Group 2022 Brick Awards, Worldwide category Hitra Office and Commercial Building 2022 Finalist, Architizer A+ Firm Awards, Best in the Middle East and Africa Hooba Design Group 2023 Popular Choice Winner, Architizer A+ Firm Awards, Best Medium Firm Hooba Design Group 2023 VillaProperty Honorary Architectural Prize Hooman Balazadeh 2024–2025 Special Mention, Architizer A+ Firm Awards, Best Medium Firm Hooba Design Group 2026 Jury Winner, Architizer A+ Awards, Best in Craft Firm Hooba Design Group
References
External links Official website