Project Overview
A shared place for coffee, art and everyday encounters.
Room Within a House explores how a fictional old home in Karaj could become a contemporary neighbourhood café while retaining a visible connection to its domestic past.
The programme brings together a café, temporary exhibitions and flexible events. Rather than treating these as separate destinations, the design connects them through a shared spatial experience: arriving through the courtyard, gathering around the counter, encountering art and finding a place to stay.
The Design Question
How can a house welcome a broader public without losing the intimacy that makes it recognisable as a home?
The proposal responds through the relationship between an existing shell and a clearly expressed contemporary insertion. Retained brickwork carries the texture of the old house, while white surfaces, graphite steel and glass establish the language of the new intervention.
A Room Within the House
An elevated event-room volume above the café counter forms the central architectural gesture. Its white envelope and glazed frontage give it a distinct presence within the larger interior.
Below, the terrazzo counter anchors everyday activity. Around it, seating, exhibition surfaces and circulation create opportunities for different uses to overlap. The arrangement allows the café to remain the primary destination while art and events enrich the experience.
Arrival and Everyday Experience
The entrance is conceived as a narrow threshold followed by a gradual reveal. Visitors move from the street into the courtyard before entering the café, discovering the space through changing views rather than a single open frontage.
Counter ordering provides a clear point of arrival inside. From there, customers can settle into informal seating, browse the changing displays or continue towards the event space. The courtyard offers an outdoor extension for daily seating and seasonal gatherings.
Material and Atmosphere
The material palette connects rough, tactile surfaces with precise contemporary elements.
Natural brick expresses the retained fabric of the house. White plaster gives the new volume clarity, while graphite steel and glass articulate its structure and boundaries. Terrazzo introduces texture at the counter, and grey concrete provides a continuous ground surface.
Burgundy and neutral upholstery bring warmth to the seating. Soft luminous ceiling panels are combined with focused track lighting to support both café activity and the display of artwork.
A Shared Neighbourhood Place
The project is intended for local residents, families, students and young adults. Its programme prioritises everyday café use, supported by temporary painting, photography and digital exhibitions.
The event brief targets approximately 60 participants while the café and gallery remain active. Talks, screenings, workshops and small performances inform the need for flexible arrangements. Capacity, acoustics, accessibility and servicing remain subjects for further design development.
Design Process
This self-initiated study uses AI-assisted imagery to explore architectural atmosphere, material relationships and alternative viewpoints. Moodboards, interior perspectives and assembly diagrams form part of an iterative process connecting the brief to a developing spatial proposal.
The images represent a conceptual design direction. The floor plans and proposed construction assemblies remain under development and are not presented as completed construction documentation.