Out of the sixteen homes shortlisted by the judging panel, six made it to the final round and were visited by independent critics before the judging panel decided on a winner

Set in the foothills of the Zagros mountains, the Habitat for Orphan Girls was chosen as the overall winner of this year’s AR House awards by judges Amin Taha, Marie-José Van Hee and Mathias Klotz. By giving vulnerable children a safe and culturally sensitive environment, ZAV Architects present new and alternative forms of domesticity in Iran.

‘It is an atypical project that has no ambitions in the architectural sense of monumentality. The expression of the “inner” quality, however, is monumental – and also brave’ said Van Hee.