The Industrial Credit Bank (ICB) was one of a series of projects undertaken by Pei in the Middle East, none of which were built. Designed as the bank’s new headquarters in downtown Teheran and including space for the bank’s affiliated companies, it was the kind of project that Pei and his firm relished: a biggish complex that needed to fit in with the established city. A 5-story component, respecting the height of neighboring buildings, houses retail, restaurants, an auditorium, and public amenities. A 27-story tower provides 350,000 square feet of office space. The tower uses the traditional Iranian notched square motif to bring maximum natural light inside while translating the configuration into a sophisticated structural system. To minimize bulk, the tower is clad in reflective glass and aluminum and set back into the site behind a public plaza. A small grove of trees and a water feature, especially welcome in the arid climate, create the kind of urbanity that Teheran sought in its modernization. It was the kind of place-making amenity that Pei and his firm championed in every project.
Excavation for ICB was underway when the Iranian Revolution broke out in 1978. With the fall of the shah in the following year, all hopes of completion vanished.
Design Team: I.M. Pei, Design Partner; James Ingo Freed, Design Architect
I.M. Pei & Partners