VAHID JOUDI STUDIO has successfully completed the transformation of an abandoned seasonal villa into Cafe Zest, a dynamic 320-square-meter public space designed to revitalize the dormant neighborhood of Karimabad in Shahsavar, Iran. The 2025 project represents a significant adaptive reuse initiative that addresses the unique challenges of seasonal residential areas lacking sustainable social infrastructure.
The architectural intervention goes beyond a simple change of use, fundamentally redefining the relationship between private and public spaces within a residential context. Lead architect Vahid Joudi, working alongside design team members Sahar Heydarkhani and Reyhaneh Geravand, approached the project with a comprehensive vision to create genuine social value rather than merely establishing another conventional café.
The design team identified the core challenge facing the Karimabad neighborhood: its transient population and disconnection from daily urban life had prevented existing cafés from becoming sustainable social hubs. The client's initial request was straightforward – transform an unused rental villa into a youth-oriented public space. However, the architectural response expanded this brief to address broader community needs and social dynamics.
A key innovation in the project is the treatment of boundaries between the café and the surrounding urban environment. Rather than creating solid separations, the architects developed what they describe as an "urban-social edge" – a permeable, biological layer that enhances invitation and facilitates spontaneous social gatherings. This strategy transforms the boundary into an active mediating surface that strengthens the café's connection with neighborhood daily life.
The programming extends far beyond traditional café functions through the introduction of two specialized zones: the Co-Creation Box and the Social Box. The Co-Creation Box serves as a flexible space for collaborative idea generation and participatory events, while the Social Box provides a venue for dialogue, networking, and local-scale social interaction formation. These additions function as strategic design layers that reinforce the café's identity as an active community hub.
Spatial organization received a complete overhaul, transitioning from a centralized layout to a distributed, fluid circulation model. This approach promotes spatial fluidity and diversity while encouraging user curiosity and discovery. The functional allocation across the site is specifically designed to encourage interaction, movement, and exploration of diverse layers – from social spaces to individual retreats, interior and exterior areas, and open to semi-open environments.
Budget constraints and the villa's rental status influenced the material strategy significantly. The technical team, including Farimah Rahimi, Khashayar Goudarzi, Farbod Hasani, and Yasmin Shafaati, developed a cost-effective approach using simple detailing while ensuring structural flexibility and future expandability. On-site materials, including stored and rusting scaffolding, metal pipes, metal mesh sheets, and aluminum panels, were creatively reinterpreted as key shell components.
This material reuse strategy provided multiple benefits: fast and economical execution by local contractors, multi-functional structural and visual performance, and environmental sustainability. The new additions introduce a fresh visual identity and formal language while maintaining respect for the existing villa fabric and neighborhood visual cohesion, avoiding the creation of an alienated architectural element.
The completed Cafe Zest demonstrates how thoughtful adaptive reuse can address complex social and urban challenges in seasonal residential contexts. By transforming a static, underutilized structure into a vibrant community hub, the project offers a replicable model for similar interventions in comparable neighborhoods throughout Iran and beyond.
