Argo Factory Tehran – ASA North
The Argo Contemporary Art Museum & Cultural Centre in Tehran, designed by Ahmadreza Schricker Architecture North (ASA North), transforms a 1920s beer distillery into a vibrant hub for contemporary art. Now home to the Pejman Foundation, the project includes six gallery spaces, a library, artist residency, event venues, and a non-alcoholic bar serving re-issued Argo beers.
The adaptive reuse preserves the original brick walls while adding five pitched concrete roofs, raised above the structure to evoke the vernacular skyline and allow diffused natural light into the climate-controlled galleries below. Former cellars have been repurposed as sunken exhibition spaces, and a new L-shaped underground gallery houses the permanent collection.
A 70 m² tower, clad in layered cast-in-place concrete, rises on a tight footprint to host artist residencies, reflecting the project’s blend of historical preservation and contemporary intervention.
