img29
img30
jackson-labs

Jackson Laboratories, ME, USA

The Project

For more than 70 years The Jackson Laboratory, a nonprofit institution, has been at the forefront of discovering cures for human diseases. Unrivaled in mouse genetics research, the Laboratory supplies resources and information to universities and research laboratories around the world. A renowned education and training center, The Laboratory is a magnet for those seeking knowledge of genetics and research strategies.

The Architectural Design Concept

Mozhan Khadem Studio at Payette associates won this commission.

The architectural design concept of the project is based on the idea of “continuous architecture with a sense of place”

Since the existing laboratories and production facilities lacked any sense of harmony, Mozhan Khadem designed the new research facility in a way to shield the unsightly aspects of the existing plant and also connect to the existing facility in a continuous way. Mozhan tried to replace the industrial look of the campus with a facility that enhanced the pastoral and natural look of its beautiful sight and that would also reflect the love of the people of Maine for simplicity. He got his inspiration from the much-loved images of the Maine agricultural barns. He combined two contiguous images of such barn-like elements for housing the laboratories and linked them together with structures allocated for office spaces. The barn-like elements that were designed to house the new laboratories were covered with rounded copper roofs, containing the mechanical facilities of the building. The resulting design fits well in its pastoral and hilly site, overlooking the magnificent view of the Cadillac mountains. Thus the architectural image of the Jackson laboratories was transformed from a chaotic industrial complex into a facility with a geographic as well as a cultural sense of place.

This is an example of “continuous architecture” with a sense of place on a small scale.  

Design Proposal for Ismaili Jamatkhana in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

In 2006 HH the Aga Khan decided to build a high-profile Jamatkhana for his Ismail followers in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

An architectural design competition was held between Mozhan Khadem and Faruk Noormohammad a devout follower of the Aga Khan who had worked on the design and construction of the Aga Khan University in Karachi under the direction of Mozhan Khadem.

STAFF BY PROJECT:

  • Mozhan Khadem, Director of Design, Principal in Charge (Khadem studio, Payette)
  • Jannet Baum, Laboratory Programmer, Project Administrator
  • Jim Wilkinson, Project Designer 
PORTFOLIO

Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey

April 8, 2022

In 1991 the Koc Family, one of the most prominent families in Turkey, decided to build a private university in that country. They conducted a search for finding an architect who could respond to their objectives. They decided to conduct an architectural competition between three architectural offices: Khadem Design Studio at Payette in Boston, MA, Architects Collaborative in Boston, MA, and Ove Arup in London, England.

READ MORE

American University, Cairo

April 8, 2022

The American University in Cairo (AUC) was designed to relocate its main campus from El Tahrir Square, in the heart of the city, to the planned community of New Cairo, where the university would be one of the largest landowners and employers. The built area of the campus comprised some 300,000 square meters, set on a 260-acre site, with an estimated budget of substantially over $400mil for construction. At the time of the initiation of this project, AUC occupied 100,000 square meters of owned and rented space on approximately 7 acres in several locations in downtown Cairo. AUC’s new campus is located some 35 kilometers to the east of downtown Cairo in the planned community of New Cairo, a development with a projected population of 2 to 3 million people in a desert characterized by petrified forest remnants.

READ MORE

Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

April 14, 2022

After a long international search, In 1971, H.H. The Aga Khan selected Mozhan Khadem as the Design Consultant for the Aga Khan University in Karachi and Payette Associates as the technical hospital consultant. As the design leader, Mozhan Khadem conceptualized the Aga Khan University and hospital as “the architecture of continuous interior spaces that surrounds the observer”– consistent with the tradition of Indo-Persian and Mughal architectural heritage of Pakistan. In order to familiarize the architectural and engineering design teams, with the blessing of the Aga Khan, Mozhan organized a tour of over one-month duration through countries under Islamic influence, including Spain in Europe; Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt in North Africa; and Iran, Pakistan, and India in Asia, where the design team could become familiar with the important historic architectural monuments in Islamic countries and could understand the basic architectural concept Mozhan Khadem was advocating for in the design of the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan.

READ MORE