Over the last few decades, Iranian architects have made a significant contribution to architectural design. This has, however, remained largely unrecognised internationally. This publication highlights the future potential from an environmental design point of view of Iran's rich heritage of vernacular architecture. It provides contemporary analysis of thermodynamics, poche walls and multi-variant envelopes in significant historic buildings, such as the Khaju Bridge and Music Chamber Ali Qapu Palace in Isfahan. Insights are provided into the postwar period in Iran with a retrospective of the work of Hadi Mirmiran.