The Espinas Royal Hotel’s Golden Muqarnas Twin Towers, designed by the renowned MASK Architects, rise as a visionary mixed-use landmark that blends innovation, elegance, and contemporary luxury. MASK Architects, in collaboration with Hotel Espinas Group, owned by the Amiri Family, one of the most respected figures in hospitality, is designed to become one of Tehran’s most iconic mixed-use high-rise towers.
Situated in the Veleniak area of Tehran, the distinctive façade is a reinterpretation of Iranian Muqarnas geometry through its iconic golden façade design, merging culture, heritage, and architectural innovation through intricate parametric designs.
Rising 164 metres above the city, the Espinas Royal Hotel’s Golden Muqarnas Twin Towers stand as a seamless blend of innovation and heritage. Designed with sustainability systems, the towers integrate vertical gardens, bioclimatic shading, and advanced fabrication systems that breathe life and efficiency into the architecture.
Covering an area of 8,900 square metres, comprising two main sections, residential and exhibition, it blends seamlessly, connecting with a structural separation. The design beautifully interprets modern Iranian-Islamic architecture for the 21st century with a timeless and elegant design deeply rooted in cultural identity.
The high-rise towers seamlessly integrate hotel, residential, and commercial spaces that coexist in perfect harmony. The first five levels rise as a monumental base, creating a lively hub of restaurants, cafés, and retail that enriches and enhances the city’s urban fabric.
At the lower street levels, softly shaded walkways filter light and invite visitors into a welcoming, human-scaled environment. Through this thoughtful layering of spaces, the architects have beautifully woven tradition and modernity into one seamless narrative, shaping a new expression of contemporary design that feels both timeless and alive.
Parametric Façade Design of the Golden Towers
The façade of the twin golden towers takes inspiration from the intricate Persian geometry of the Muqarnas, reinterpreted through a contemporary parametric design. Merging tradition with innovation, golden modular elements form a rhythmic three-dimensional pattern that seamlessly transforms into planters, bringing greenery to the vertical expanse. Rooted in a philosophy of sustainability, the design’s geometric extrusions naturally reduce solar gain while enhancing shading, comfort, and energy efficiency, creating architecture that breathes with environmental intelligence.
The sculptural façade skin is reimagined and designed as a dynamic architecture, establishing a dialogue between the past and the future. The shimmering golden cladding acts as a reflective panel, interacting with the natural sunlight to create a façade with a dynamic tone shift throughout the entire day. Each unit is finished in a contrasting manner, creating a dynamic interplay between the interiors and exteriors. At night, the façade transforms with selected boxes turning into LED light boxes. The façade system is a modular and efficient construction method, designed for streamlined fabrication with adaptable forms.
One tower operates as a traditional hotel tower, and the other consists of serviced apartments. The exhibition spaces include four floors accessed from the south, with the residential section from the north. The exhibition section also connects different levels (second to fifth level), hosting exhibition showrooms. The residential section comprises 954 rooms spread across two 30-story towers. Green terraces top the roofs of the connecting bridges, providing a public space with beautiful panoramic views. The hotel offers additional services, including a lobby, reception, lounge, and cafes on the lower level with restaurants and terraces on higher levels.
The Espinas Royal Hotel – Golden Muqarnas Twin Towers
Project name: The Espinas Royal Hotel (Golden Muqarnas Twin Towers)
Location: Tehran, Iran
Architect: Mask Architects
Year: Upcoming Project
Photography: Mask Architects
