Background:
Lodzia Textile Factory was built by the contractor E.A. Weiss in 1923 on behalf of the Berlin & Passovsky Office that served as architects and planners. The factory was one of the first large industrial facilities in Tel Aviv. The founders were Jews from the city of Lodz in Poland and hence the factory’s name. The original factory was a single floor building and the second structure was erected in 1924 next to the original one. Even though the founders were masters of their trade, the factory failed and became profitable only after being purchased by Arie Shenkar in 1925. In the course of time the factory employed more than 140 workers and the production expanded into other products. The year 1929 saw the building of another wing as a third floor of the original structure, executed by architect Hershkowicz. With the establishment of Holon to the south of Tel Aviv, the factory was moved there, to enjoy more spacious location. Since 1935 the factory resides at the entrance to Holon, while the old 3-storey building, built from reddish bricks, still towers along the Nahmani Street.

Project Description:
For many years the unusual red structure stood empty and unused, except for occasional utilizations such as art exhibitions or serving as a warehouse. In 2008 it was purchased with the purpose of transforming it into a modern residential building in the eastern part of “Lev Ha-Ir” (City Center in Hebrew) neighborhood.
The road toward obtaining the coveted conservation and building permits was far from easy. The building’s designation as bound for conservation is anchored in two urban planning programs (In “Lev Ha-Ir” program the building was declared as building for conservation at level A’, while in the municipal conservation program 2650/b declared it bound for conservation under strict limitations). These declarations secured the conservation of Lodzia House as part of Tel-Aviv’s heritage for future generations. In addition to the obligation to conserve it as it was built in the 1920’s, a strict prohibition was issued regarding any deviation from the original and making any construction additions. These restrictions posed a real planning challenge to the effort to convert the old factory structure dating to the previous century into modern residential apartments matching the requirements of the current law and standards. The realization that any addition of areas essential for the existence of the project can be done only underground, and in totally concealed fashion (according to the demands of the Urban Planning Program and the municipal conservation team), led to the planning of two underground levels across the whole area of the lot and under the conserved structure.
The underground level features planned basements that include parking and service areas needed for adequate operation of the building, as well as an independent transformers room matching the demands of the Electric Company. In order to build the underground basements under the historic building a temporary support was planned for the existing structure, using hundreds of steel poles embracing the wall and foundations of the old structure, supported in their turn by special reinforcement walls erected along the perimeter of the lot and further supporting foundations. This method enabled to disconnect the original foundations in order to conduct the digging works and removing thousands tons of sand to create the basement.
The external conservation works are scheduled to begin when the underground basements are to be completed and the stability of the historic structure upon these new additions is ensured, parallel to the building of the apartments within the building’s envelope. As a result of the preliminary documentation and research works the building’s façades were planned to resemble the original ones as closely as possible. Conservation demands require application of the original material of red and white silica bricks. We have managed to salvage some of these original bricks and the missing ones would have to be restored through a special process that would enable manufacturing of white bricks similar to the original ones and matching the environmental building standards of our time. Another item requiring matching modern standards is the original factory windows, which are unsuitable for residential apartments, this time in the isolation and sealing. The original steel windows would be restored with utmost precision through matching of all these new demands.
All the electromechanical systems required for proper operation of the building (such as elevator motors, water reservoir, heating, electricity room, etc.) were planned to reside in the building’s basements.
In the past the roof of the historic building was covered with tin-zinc plates, a fact known to us from the historic photographs and the original planning appearing in the detailed documentation file prepared before the planning.
As these zinc tiles cannot be purchased from an industrial producer, they were custom made manually for this project.
Work Initiation: September 2013
Expected Completion Date: May 2015
Client: “Karmey Arava Ltd.”
Interior Design: Orly Shrem Architects Ltd.
Project Management and Supervision: Margolin Bros. Engineering & Consulting Ltd.

Background:

The buildings bound for conservation at 18-20 Rothschild Blvd. truly represent the values of the International Movement in architecture in Tel Aviv and are a telling evidence of the activity of the architect Pinhas (Philip) Huett, one of the most important architects of the period who worked in the city. This was a period of rapid development and growth of the historic city center – from residential quarter into a main business center/metropolis. In the building standing at 18 Rothschild Blvd. these values are expressed in the main façade and the lateral façades near the boulevard, which managed to survive into our days with most of their original openings. The main stairway, with its thermometer window, so characteristic in Huett’s work, is one architectural detail deserving meticulous conservation being a genuine example of the architectural culture of the 1930’s, as well as the balconies in this façade. During the years the building served as condominium, a partial fence separating it from the boulevard was built. This fence was removed with the conversion of the building into an office building.
The lot at 18 Rothschild Boulevard was purchased by Avraham Yosef Minzer in 1925. Prior to that, as testified by the municipal documents and Druyanov’s Map from1924, showing the expansion of construction in Tel Aviv in that year, the lot stood empty. The land belonged to Mr. Yacobus Cohen (Kahn), a Jewish Dutch consul in Palestine, who was very close to the Zionist Movement. In fact, his name was used to buy lands due to the restrictions imposed by the Ottoman Government on selling land to Jews. The actual transaction was conducted by Meir Dizengoff, who signed the paper as Jacobus Kahn’s proxy. The construction itself began only after seven years. In 1934 Minzer and his family arrived in Israel and while the construction was in progress had lived at Lilienblum 32 and in a hotel at Allenby 19. Once the construction was completed, the family moved into a frontal apartment at the second floor of the building.
In 1935 Minzer purchased the adjacent lot on 20 Rothschild Blvd. and in 1936 erected there another building, planned by the same architect in the popular International Style. In this building, the typical features of that style supplemented its original designation as an office building to create a structure with very simple lines, when most of the elements creating its appearance are directed toward functionality and formality. The building’s mass follows the contours of the lot (through preservation of the building’s lines) when in general all the floors are overlapping in a way leaving the mass as one whole, without playing with the building’s volume. The main element giving the building its character are the windows with horizontal proportions, which replicate themselves and comprise most of the façades area. Repetitive use of these windows along the building’s perimeter reflects the anonymity of its users, because the building was designated from the very beginning to serve for rented offices. The emphasis on horizontal lines: all the horizontal windows and their serial arrangement create horizontal lines that surround the whole building. These horizontal lines, created by the arrangement of the windows are integrated with the horizontal lines created by the balconies of the southern façade. The concrete awning around the building along its front strengthens this emphasis further and separates the ground floor from those of the offices above it. Since the building was designated for offices from the start, and functionality being a fundamental principle in modern buildings, there is no actual need for balconies in an office building. The architect, nevertheless, added roofed balconies in both south-facing façades. Their shape (being quite narrow and closed) indicates that their purpose was to create shading for the southern façade rather than to make them useful for the office workers. The building’s simplicity, stemming from the principles and designation of the International Style, made it a building with limited number of architectural details and using simple details intended to serve practical needs, without excessive decoration. As most of the future renters were unknown, the planning was not adjusted to meet specific needs. However, the main renter, “Immigrants Bank Palestine-Poland Limited”, signed a long term renting contract prior to the completion of the construction and therefore the interior planning at the ground floor and the open gallery leading to it were shaped with greater consideration than other parts of the structure.
Project Description:
In order to plan the conversion of the existing buildings bought by the Edmond de Rothschild Group into a Rothschild Bank’s management offices in Israel, its local management conducted in 2007 a closed competition between several architect offices with reputation and knowledge required for a project of this sort, combining conservation of historic buildings and new construction according to a unique program.
Our office was chosen as the project architects
The planning began in 2008 and included the conservation of the historic buildings built in 1930’s and planned as a residential building and the bank office building in the modern International Style. Likewise, the planning also included the conversion of both buildings to the match the operative needs of the Edmond de Rothschild Group in Israel. New additions were planned as well on the top of the existing structures: in the 20 Rothschild building a new floor was planned along the perimeter of the original structure while the residential building received a new back wing instead of the original one that was dismantled, in addition to the planning of two new floors on its roof.
In order to enable proper joint functioning of both structures a new wing connecting between the existing structures was planned. This wing was planned at the rear of the lot, leaving the original buildings as two distinct masses facing the boulevard. This wing was planned with transparent glass which is supposed to enable right reading of the building additions without impeding the conservation values. The main entrance lobby was planned at the exact location of the original one, featuring new and updated design matching the bank’s needs and enabling its visitors to feel its combined values integrated in the significant historic value of the Edmond de Rothschild Group and its nowadays activity in Israel and worldwide.
The artwork chosen for the entrance lobby is planned to be of the video art type, projected on permanent basis on the center of the roof of the gallery surrounding the lobby at the first floor.

The project is currently in advanced construction stages and is supposed to reach
completion during the year 2015.
In addition to our office, entrusted upon the planning of conservation, conversion and the new addition, the other planning partners are:
Architect Gad Halperin Studio Gad – interior design
Architect Andrey Pantzer – interior design of the lobby
Eng. Chaim Steinberg – construction
Waxman, Govrin, Geva – management and supervision
Mr. Ofir Zelinger on behalf of the client – management and supervision

Project Initiation: 2011
Project Completion: 2015

Project Initiator: Edmond de Rothschild Blvd. Buildings Ltd.

Background:
The structure was erected by Yitzhak Rosenzweig in the years 1936-37 as part of the Elishar-Slonim neighborhood, planned by architect Yehiel Avrahami.
This structure is located at the corner of 65 Shelomoh ha-Melekh and Mendelsohn streets. It was declared a building for strictly-regulated preservation, as part of the Tel Aviv Preservation Plan, 2650 B.
The structure was built according to the International Style, with all its characteristic features: a raised first floor on pillars, thermometer window, open balconies and an awning on the roof.

Project Description:
The preservation work includes the demolition of various additions, the re-planning of the existing apartments and the renewal of all the electromechanical systems in the building, the construction of a penthouse, the restoration of the building’s façades, the installation of elevators and the preservation of the stairways. The interior design was planned by architect Ofir Assias, in the spirit of the International Style era.

Project initiation: 2009

Project completion: 2014

Project management: Yael Schneideman

Background:
The Assuta Hospital, planned by architect Joseph Neufeld in partnership with architects Schiller and Dicker, was built in 1935 in the International Style and served as a hospital from its very first day up to 2010, when it left its historic location.
Although it is unknown whether the planning of the open spaces was conducted by another architect or those who planned the buildings, it is obvious that these open spaces and their planning constituted an important integral part in the planning of the whole compound.
The main hospitalization structure features a local architectural language known as “International Style”. It is another item in the list of city buildings reflecting the modern architecture movement in Tel Aviv and typical of the building’s architect, Joseph Neufeld, who planned many other buildings across the city. As we can learn from historic pictures, the structure, planned in a functional fashion, was designed and fully furnished in the International Style that was very common at that time in Palestine.
During the hospital’s active years many changes were made in the buildings and in the compound’s development. In fact, except for the location of the open spaces and the surviving original trees, even the external soil cover was changed, regarding both vegetation and development details.
Since the hospital’s move from the compound and the abandoning of the buildings and gardens to their fate, there is a sharp deterioration in their condition.

Project Description:
In 2010 a zoning plan was approved for the compound, according to which the hospitalization structure and Nurses’ School were supposed to be converted into residential apartments. The administrative structure will be replaced by a kindergarten and instead of the quarantine wing in the rear eastern part of the hospital a 26-storey tall residential tower will be erected.
During the process of planning the conversion of the historic buildings into residential quarters we have encountered many difficulties stemming from the fact that these buildings, which are subject to conservation regulations, were planned to function as a hospital according to the standards of the 20th century. The original design was preserved, as well as a considerable portion of the open spaces and the roofed passage. Converting these buildings into private residential apartments and the addition of the new floor, also for residential purposes, is a new significant chapter in the site’s life, because it ensures the preservation of most buildings and the open spaces – contemporaneously with the frenetic development activities taking place around it.

Project Start: 12/2008
Initiator: Electra Construction Ltd. Company
Project Manager: Noam Raviv
Tower Architect: Moshe Tzur
Responsible Conservation Architect: Arch. Sivan Simon-Abargel

Background:
In 1921, Joel Leitz and Chaim Soroka built a one-storey building with two apartments on two adjacent lots in Nahlat Binyamin neighborhood in Tel Aviv. The planning was done by architect Zvi Tabachnik. This building became one the first houses built on the northern part of the street, the current pedestrian walkway.

In 1925, the owners added another floor, once again with two apartments, and a tiled roof. An intriguing fact is that, despite spreading across two lots under different ownership, the whole construction was built and functioned as a single building with a joint stairwell.
The building boasts an impressive Eclectic-Style façade facing the street.

In 1926, a process was begun to alter the street-side façade to make it commercial. This process was implemented in most of the buildings along Nahlat Binyamin St. with the transfer of commerce from Jaffa to Tel Aviv, marking the change in the original designation of the neighborhood, which had been planned to include residential buildings surrounded by gardens.
The conversion of ground-floor rooms into shops and the opening up of the façade with large show-windows damaged the design of the main façade, leaving almost nothing of its original magnificence.

Over the years since then, these lots passed through several hands and, currently, the building is in bad repair, making it difficult to identify the original structure.

Project Description:
During the years in which our office has been working on the building (since 1987), several plans have been prepared for the various owners of the lots.
These days, following the initiative of the Meyzamim Company, a program is being promoted to reunite the two lots and to preserve the building by restoring the impressive commercial and residential façade, preserving the front part of the building and adding 3 floors at the back of the lot. The planned building includes apartments of varying sizes and street-level shops.

Project initiation year: 2007

 
Project Initiator: Meyzamim Company and “Gaia”, on behalf of the purchase group.
Project Manager: Tal Ben Nun (“Meyzamim”)

Background:
The building of the Pittman School of Commerce was constructed in the early 1920s on the corner of 38 Balfour and 53 Ahad Ha`am streets and it was originally known by as the “Moshe Greidinger House.”
There are no documents attesting as to the exact dates of the building’s construction, nor any plans, construction permits or completion certification, not to mention the mystery of the architect’s name. However, by 1926, some initial evidence was uncovered regarding its ownership by Mr. Nahum Vinerski.
In 1929, the building was purchased from Mr. Vinerski by a wealthy businessman, Moshe Greidinger, who immigrated to Palestine from London. Eventually, Greidinger became one of the founders of: the Eretz-Israel Refrigeration Company, a credit bank, the Israeli Company for Shipping and Supply, the “En Dor” Cinema, the “Armon” Cinema and Theater in Haifa and more …
In 1943, Greidinger gave half of this building to his daughter, Kyla (Kitty) and her husband. Later on, the other half was sold to the Shapira couple, who, in 1937, opened the School of Commerce and Stenography there, managed by Zvi Shapira and E. Lapin. The school operated on the basis of a teaching technique known as the “Pittman technique” and hence its name.
In 1941, architect Ben-Ami Shulman submitted plans to the Shapira couple for interior changes and building additions on the 1st and 2nd floors, alterations necessitated by the building’s use as a school. These plans were approved and teach us about the original plans of the building, retrieving some of the original information that had been lost.

Project Description:
A residential structure for preservation with a total area of 450 sqm. — part of a major, overall project covering over 3,200 sqm.
This project includes the planning of the preservation of the structure along with a new building, in tight collaboration with Bar Orian Architects, who are planning the new structure and issuing of detailed tenders for all the work on the premises. The preservation process includes, among other things, a complex process for supporting the building in order to dig the underground parking lots beneath it.

Project initiation: 2011
Project completion: 2015
Project Manager: Efrati Madpis Project Management
Photographer: Avi Levy

Background:
This structure is located in the northern part of Rothschild Blvd., at the corner of Bar Ilan St. (formerly known as Lebanon St.).
The building was erected by Zion Aharonovitch in 1933-34 and was planned by architect Yitzhak Rappaport based on International Style principles.
With the construction was completed, the building was sold to Nahum Yoelson, whose heirs still retain ownership today.
Over the years, this building underwent few initiated changes and retained its original appearance. Except for the wear caused by time and neglect, the façades remained largely as they were originally. The structure has two stairwells with a thermometer window running along its entire length, as well as open porches facing Rothschild Blvd. and Bar Ilan St.

Project Description:
The work includes: the renovation and upgrading of the existing apartments; the preservation of the building’s façades and stairwells; making the apartments more accessible by adding elevator shafts alongside the stairways; and the installation of wood and metal details, restored similarly to the original items that had been in the building.
Future plans also include an automatic underground parking lot in the courtyard.

Project initiation: 2010

Project Manager: Boaz Michaeli

Background:
The building at 19 Allenby St. was built in 1926 and was planned by architect Isaac Schwartz. It may be categorized as one of the most impressive structures of the 1920s in Tel Aviv. Its location on Allenby Street and its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea boosted its importance.
It is a large residential building with three floors, two entrances and two stairways, which had been built in two stages (original and extension wings(

Project Description:
This is a residential and commercial building marked for the strictest level of preservation. At present, the building has a commercial façade above a partial basement floor with a total area of ca. 1,600 sqm. During the preservation process, the building will undergo a ‘surgical’ process of strengthening and restoration, new interior planning by means of the insertion of modern systems intended to serve the residential apartments and additional construction on the roof. The remaining construction rights were transferred, within the framework of the local urban-planning program, for the construction of a tower on Rothschild Boulevard.

Project initiation year: 2008

Project Manager: Eyal Sarig Project Management

Background:
The Building of Charles Clore’s Student Dormitories was planned by the architect Arieh El Hanani for the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1963. The structure was built by the Solel Boneh Company. It is a 3-storey building sitting above a partial column level and a basement with a window well ventilated from the south and enabling the light to reach the underground floor.
Originally, the basement was used as a mess hall, but during the years its designation was changed as student living rooms were added. Due to its location at the border of the Institute and a residential neighborhood in the city of Rehovot, it features a unique urban-architectural situation. The structure is a singular urban event among the structures in Weizmann Institute, because its façade is located on a city street (Ha-Nassi Ha-Rishon St.), enabling pedestrian entry into the Institute through the structure situated between the Institute and the City of Rehovot.
Thus, the building has two main entrances: one from Ha-Nassi Ha-Rishon Street, and the other via a spectacular garden in the Institute itself. Thus, the building benefits from two main façades enjoying meticulous maintenance and earns maximum exposure for both the city and for the Institute visitors.
The building’s construction style is that of the Brutalist Architectural Style, that was common in those years among Israeli architects, and features construction materials typical for the period: exposed concrete, wood, glass, Terazzo casts and a pebble wall. The entrance floor serves as a common public space, most of it being open through glazed openings toward the garden on the side of the Weizmann Institute. At the center of the structure there is a large patio built on the second floor level and serving as open area ventilating the stairs and corridors. Two open staircases (on both sides of the inner patio) serve the dwellers of the dormitories. Original elevator (that served the building’s founder Charles Clore and the Institute’s guests) could reach the last floor only. Over time this floor was converted into student dormitories.
The common public functions are concentrated at the entrance floor: reception room / building’s maintenance office, lobby, music room. The seating area features an impressive sculpted wall by the artist Dani Karavan, which was supposed to be illuminated through the skylight window, but was covered and closed due to water leaks. As a result the light does not penetrate inside during the day.
Against the building’s façade toward the Institute a “Gestetner Garden” was planned by the landscape architects Yahalom-Tzur, who were also responsible for the design of most open spaces in the Institute.
Project Description:
After years of neglect and lack of use, the management of the Institute decided to appoint the architect Shmuel Potash to redesign the building and its conversion into student dormitories matching modern standards. This action required a fundamental change within the structure and adding lavatories and showers in each room, as well as matching the mandatory acoustic, thermal and environmental demands. The main preservation challenge was to enable minimal building additions on the structure’s roof while preserving its’ original values and shape with all the relevant details.
The patio was planned anew to enable the light penetrate the entrance lobby and natural illumination for the sculpted wall – the creation of Dani Karavan. All the exposed concretes underwent “surgical” treatment and were restored without harming the original exposed concrete texture. Most of the original external details such as shutters, wood covering of the porch walls, concrete parapets and other details remained in place and underwent meticulous professional cleaning conducted by the “Arco” Company.
The main challenge in the conservation of this important building was preservation of the many surfaces of the exposed building, which are the main architectural mark of the period’s style.

Project Start: 2011
Project Completion: Summer 2014
Client: Weizmann Institute of Science
Chief Architect: Shmuel Potash
Project Management: Epstein Project Management
Photography: Avi Levi

Background:
“Tsiporen House”, named after the Tsiporen family, was built in 1925 as a ‘charming home’ at the corner of Ahad Ha`am and Nahmani streets. Its location on the street corner, its size and shape provided a somewhat ‘classical atmosphere’ to its surroundings.
In the mid-1940s, the building was purch ased and managed by “Ma`on Ltd”, which was a firm for building management. In 1944, the firm planned to demolish the building and to build a larger one instead, but the plan was never realized.
In 1978, the building was sold to “Hasneh” Insurance Company, which never used it, leaving it abandoned until 1985, at which time it was ‘saved from desolation’ by the Tsiporen family, who bought it.
The Tsiporen family did renovations in two stages: from 1987-1989, the porches were closed off and significant alternations were made in the interior. In 1999, the plaster was removed from the entire building’s façade, which was repainted in various colors.

 
Project Description:
A residential structure for preservation with a total area of 1,200 sqm. – part of a larger project having a total area of 4,600 sqm.
This project includes: the planning of the preservation of the main building together with a new building, work to be done jointly with Barre Levie Architects, who will plan the new building; the procurement of special permits for work to be done inside the structure; and the issuing of detailed tenders for the jobs in the interior.

 
Project initiation year: 2011
Project Initiator: Lenox Investments Ltd.
Project Manager: Efrati Madpis Project Man

Photographer: Avi Levy

Background:
The project is located at the converging point of Rothschild Blvd., Herzl and Lilienblum Streets. The lot features five conservation restricted buildings with a total area of approximately 2,000 m2. A 29-storey high tower is planned to be built at the center of the lot, designed by Ranni Ziss Architects. The stated purpose of the project is to strengthen the city’s historic business center through preservation of buildings of historic and architectural value, and to contribute to the renewal and development of Rothschild Blvd. and the adjacent streets. The project plan includes a hotel at the lower floors, residential apartments in the upper, and a commercial ground level, where most of the conservation restricted buildings are located. The underground floors include a service level and parking lots.

 
Project Description:
The planned conservation works refer to the conservation of historic structures on one hand and of the entire compound on the other hand. The aim is a twofold one: first, original parts deserving conservation in each of the five buildings were defined in order to preserve them the best way possible; second, seeing these structures as an integral part of the historic urban texture in an ongoing process of urban renewal. Thus, the project sees conservation and modern construction as one single effort, with maximum consideration of the unique needs of every urban complex.
The five buildings qualify for conservation due to several reasons:
1. The lots these structures occupy are part of the original 66 lots of the Ahuzat Bait founders.
2. The unique architectural style (characteristic of the 1920’s)
3. They are part of the original urban-historic texture of “Ahuzat Bait” and the old business center

 
Weissbrod House – 25 Lilienblum St.
Conservation-wise the building is divided into two wings: the façade facing Lilienblum St. and the rear wing, overlooking the yard. The rear wing underwent countless alterations and additions up to almost complete destruction of all its original elements. The front wing on the other hand is mostly original and deserves conservation and partial reconstruction. Likewise, both lateral façades of this wing are to be reconstructed as well.

 
Hillel Hacohen House – 23 Lilienblum St. & 11 Herzl St. Junction
Hillel Hacohen House was erected in two phases: the western wing (2-storey) was built first, followed by the eastern one (2-storey as well). The planners of the addition made a huge effort to make both wings matching in aspects of architecture, design and construction, in order to create a uniform and homogenous appearance. The building’s architectonic values are expressed mainly in its main façades, the southern one (Lilienblum St.) and western one (Herzl St.), which will be conserved in full.

 
Yehieli House – 9 Herzl St.

Although no traces remain of the original house built in 1910, the existing building is nevertheless an integral part of the urban development of “Ahuzat Bait” and Herzl Street. Guided by the efforts to preserve the urban texture, most of the existing building will be conserved.

Hayenko House – 7 Herzl St. & 10 Rothschild Blvd. Junction

Almost no original details remain from the original building of the Hayenko Family and the addition of another floor. However, the existing building (c. 1928) represents a transition from the Eclectic Style of the 1920’s to more modern style. Guided by the efforts to preserve the urban texture, most of the existing building will be conserved.

 
Fogel House – 12 Rothschild Blvd.
Although nothing remains of the original house built in 1910, the existing building is an integral part of the urban development of “Ahuzat Bait” and Rothschild Blvd. The changes this building has undergone characterizes most buildings along the boulevard: starting as single-floor residential houses with rear garden; continuing as a two-story building with commercial ground level floor and the upper floor used for residence. Guided by the efforts to preserve the urban texture, most of the existing building will be conserved.

Developer: Tidhar
Architects in charge: Arch. Tal Gazit, Arch. Sivan Simon-Abargel
Chief and tower architect: Ranni Ziss Architects
Development: Tsurnamal Turner Architects
Construction: Israel David Engineers, Conservation Constructor: Eng. Yaron Gal
Project Status: in planning

Background:
The Reisfeld House was planned by architect Pinchas Bijonsky (1885-1992) and built in 1935. The house was built according to the International Style (Bauhaus) which was very widespread in Tel Aviv at that time. The building is compose from three wings: two lateral wings and one in the rear. This form created an inner courtyard accessible from Ha-Yarkon St. All wings have separate stairways and the laterals are characterized by rounded porches, which grant the building its unique character, making it one of the landmarks of International Style architecture in Israel.
Project Description:
The work was done in partnership with Bar Orian Architects and included: the preservation of the western lateral wings; the restoration of the central rear wing and the excavation of two basement floors underneath it; as well as the addition of five newly-built floors at the rear (eastern part) of the building.

Project initiation: 2009
Project completion: 2012
Project Initiator: Faire Fund
Project management: Faire Fund

Background:
The Templars were one of the most unusual communities active in Palestine before WWII and left a significant imprint on the local scenery. The Sarona Colony, established in 1871, was not the first agricultural colony in the vicinity of Jaffa, but it was undoubtedly the largest, the most advanced and the most successful amongst them. The colony was planned with two intersecting main streets at its center. The first (modern David Elazar St.) – included residential houses, workshops and industrial structures, including a winery, an olive press and a distillery. The second street included mostly residential houses. Public and communal structures, including the School and the People’s House, were built at the heart of the colony, near the main junction.
Project Description:
In the early 1990’s the Israel Land Authority and Tel Aviv-Yaffo Municipality designed a renewal program for the area. The main emphasis was on a considerable increase in construction volumes. When the economic profitability of conservation was established, it was agreed to adopt the new planning principles proposed with our help – the new towers were placed at the compound’s perimeter (former Southern Kirya), while at the its center an urban park including the planning of a complex of the streets and structures for conservation immersed in historic vegetation.. The main stumbling block of the program came from the municipality’s decision to widen Kaplan Street. In order to comply with this planning, our office planned and supervised the relocation of 5 buildings, three residential buildings and two major public buildings, within the colony. Prior to their physical relocation, the buildings were studied, documented and dismantled from all the additions in danger of being damaged during the transfer. At the same time the planning focused on the procedures for disconnecting the buildings from their foundations, their suspension, casting of new platforms and moving them to the new sites. We also planned the renewed location of the buildings and defined their new utilizations, planned the systems for these utilizations and coordinated the urban systems encompassing the compound, such as roads, future route of the light rail train, approach tunnels to underground parking, etc. In order to ensure their entire preservation the five historic buildings were moved to their new homes:
22 Kaplan
Typical residential house in an agricultural Templar settlement, occupied by the Steller Family. Built in: c. 1877.
26 Kaplan
Typical residential house in an agricultural Templar settlement, occupied by the Weller Family. Late 19th century.
30 Kaplan
Typical residential house in an agricultural Templar settlement, occupied by the Grozinger Family. Built in: 1877.
34 Kaplan
School, Public communal building in an agricultural Templar settlement. Built in: 1875.
36 Kaplan
People’s House, Public communal building in an agricultural Templar settlement. Early 20th century.
Relocation was completed in February 2006. The works of conserving and developing these buildings and their transformation to new utilizations entered their final stage these very days.
Project Start: 2003
Project Completion: 2006
Ordering Client: Israel Land Authority, Tel Aviv – Yaffo Municipality through the Tel Aviv – Yaffo Economic Development Authority Ltd and Ahuzat HaHof Company
Project Manager: Margolin Bros. Engineering and Consultation Ltd.
Building Relocation Company: MAMMOET

Background:
The ” Bachar House” was planned by architect Yehuda Leib Magidovich, who also was the first municipal engineer of the city of Tel Aviv in the years 1920-1923. His work as an architect in Tel Aviv covered the period of 1920’s and 1930’s. The Bachar House was planned for the Bachar Family in the late 1922. Its location at the corner of Nahalat Binyamin and Lilienblum Streets emphasizes the importance of this particular building in Eclectic Style inspired by the Romantic Architecture currents. The building also reflects a certain influence of the Moorish Style, also used by Magidovich in other buildings he had planned across Tel Aviv.
In addition to residences, the building also served various other functions. Changes that were made in its external appearance and internal division, caused by the fire in the nearby “Zim” building, created its shape and look during the years before restoration. Many years later the building was used as the central branch of the “Mizrahi Bank” and in the early 1990’s, within the frames of repairs and expansions (building additions on its roof), its envelope was restored, together with many other changes, not necessarily matching the original.

Project Description:
The current conservation effort was part of a large-scope project which included the building of a 27-storey office tower, planned by the architect Moshe Zur, and its connection by a glass atrium, constituting the entrance lobby into the new tower and enveloping the northern part of the Bachar House. The first stage consisted of planning and execution of a complex engineering operation that included dismantling and removal of the floor that was added later and restoring the building to its original form. The second stage featured planning and execution of restoration works and meticulous conservation based on tracking and studying of the works accomplished by architect Yehuda Magidovich. The new wing, remaining in the plans from the 1990’s’, was covered
by dark terracotta tiles to show its distinction from the original conserved structure

Project Initiation: 2009
Project Completion: 2013
Project Initiatior: “Aviv Group”
Project Manager: Eng. Yair Zabari
Tower Architect: Moshe Zur Architects

Background:
The al-Manshiyah Railroad Station in Jaffa was built in 1892 as part of the first railway in this area of the Mediterranean Sea, to connect the Port of Jaffa and Jerusalem.
The main reason behind its construction was the rising wave of Christian pilgrims, who arrived by the sea on their way to the holy city of Jerusalem.
This was one of the most important infrastructure projects executed in the last years of the Ottoman rule over Palestine.
The first building erected in this compound was the Station structure. The same plans were also used for the Jerusalem Railroad Station.
From an historic perspective, the Station’s location raises some puzzling questions. It seems that the Ottomans decided not to build the Station inside the Old City of Jaffa, nor even in the area near the port or its gates, but at a considerable distance from it, near the new Arab neighborhood of Manshiyah, which continued the scattered building in the northward direction and, as such, primarily served the main bulk of the Muslim population of Jaffa.
Nonetheless, it is possible to see that this compound was built between other settlement areas north of the American/German Colony of Jaffa and south of the Jewish houses of Neveh Shalom and Zerach Baranet. This location enabled the Station to serve all the local populations of the late 19th century.
After 1950, the area was seized by the I.D.F., which used it for many different purposes, such as offices, the main military sewing factory, soldiers’ barracks, the Ministry of Defense Publishing House warehouse, a weaponry museum, etc. In the 1990s, the Tel Aviv Municipality decided to return this central area, located between Tel Aviv and Jaffa, to wider public use. Our office was called to plan the preservation of the main structures inside the Station compound and to adapt them for cultural, leisure and vacation utilizations.

Project Description:
The site has several main historic buildings: the Passenger Terminal structure, the Cargo Terminal and other auxiliary structures. Over the years, these structures underwent many changes, not to mention suffering heavy man-made and natural damages, most of which were inflicted by the immediate proximity to the shoreline. Similarly, the adjacent Wieland Concrete Plant buildings were also preserved and restored.
After preliminary documentation of the buildings, their entire envelopes were restored and the buildings were prepared for their prospective tendering by the Tel Aviv Municipality for commercial, leisure and cultural uses.
The buildings were strengthened to withstand potential earthquakes and made handicapped-accessible, while carefully preserving all the architectural and decorative elements found on the premises and/or discovered during the documentation efforts.

List of structures handled by our office:
• Railroad Station structure (5).
• Railway warehouses – Cargo Terminal (4).
• Cement Factory (14).
• Fences and gates.
• Factory shop (12)
• Wieland villa (8).
• The “Arab House” (10).
• The “Red House” (8 a’).
• The wooden shack (9 a’)
• Structure 26

Project initiation: 2007
Project completion: 2010

Project Initiator: Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality
Project management: Ezra & Bizaron Company

Background:
The Water Tower at 36 Maze St. is one of the first water towers in Tel Aviv. It was erected in 1924, as per plans by engineer Arpad Gott, and constructed of reinforced concrete and silicate bricks.
This tower was used to supply water to the city’s houses; to that end, it was located atop a sandy hill at the highest point in the city. Due to its location and being one of the city’s symbols, a traditional Hanukah candelabrum is lit atop the Water Tower every winter with the arrival of the Festival of Lights.
Due to neglect and processes of natural wear, the Water Tower has recently fallen into a deteriorated physical state and, as such, was declared a dangerous structure. Its restoration is defined as a ‘public task’ performed by the entrepreneur as part of the “Lenox-Nahmani Project.”

Project Description:
The damages caused to the Tower are quite common also in other buildings in Tel Aviv: cracks, disintegrating plaster and concrete, and construction additions made of silicate bricks.
The main preservation efforts invested in the Water Tower were to treat these hazards. This work included: the rehabilitation of the concretes, which was meant to take care of the exposed metal supports; the addition of the missing material to the cement, in order to fix the concretes; the precise restoration of the spiral stairways, based on the surviving stairs. This restoration also included the uppermost octagonal porch (of which there were only some remnants left).
Project initiation year: 2010

Project completion: 2016

Project Initiator: Lenox Investments Ltd

Project Manager: Ephrati-Madpis Project Management Ltd

Photographer: Avi Levi

Background :
The Rivka Grinwald House at 4 Shadal St. was built in 1929 by architect Yehuda Magidovich as a private residence in the eclectic style that characterized the period. Mrs. Rivka Shapira-Grinwald was the daughter of Michael Shapira, the older brother of Abraham Shapira, one of the elders of the “Shomrim” and founders of Petah-Tikvah. When she was only 16, with her father’s demise, Ms. Shapira had inherited a considerable fortune. Later on, after selling some of her orchards in Petah-Tikvah, she bought a double lot at 4 Shadal and 29 Yavneh streets, where the family houses were built. In 1933, another floor was added to the house by architect Carl Rubin and, during the years various additions were built. The house is noted for its architectural details of utmost quality, including many examples of colorful tiling, splendid wall paintings and fine interior carpentry.
Over the years, and having had a myriad of different tenants in the building, including a restaurant in recent years, its internal and external condition deteriorated severely, almost completely masking its heritage values. In 1981, the house was sold to Clal Insurance Company Ltd., on condition that Mrs. Rivka Grinwald would be allowed to live there until her death. In 1991, the building was listed for preservation in local urban plan initiated by the Clal Insurance Company and followed up by the First International Bank.

Project Description:
In the early 1990s, our office was approached by the Clal Insurance Company to document all the buildings in the site, including Rivka Grinwald House, for the purpose of appraising the planning and construction potential of the area. In the mid-1990s, after moving into its new offices, Clal sold the site to the First International Bank. At that stage, our office was asked to plan the preservation of the Rivka Grinwald House, together with several other structures, as a part of the Bank’s Management Tower Project.
The planning of the Bank Tower was entrusted to the international architect I. M. Pei (who planned the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, and many other important projects). The preservation of the building itself was planned so it could be suspended, in order to be able to excavate 6 parking levels underneath it, as part of the Tower’s basements.
In light of the documentation on the building, it was decided to dismantle the non-original upper floor, which had been added later and was not particularly important. It was decided to return the building to its original state, as it had been planned by the architect Yehuda Magidovich.
The urban plan for the First International Bank Management Tower required to preserve and to transfer the entire building to the Tel Aviv Municipality as a public structure for public uses. The building was meticulously preserved, with all its external and internal details, and was also prepared to serve as a public building by making it handicapped-accessible and by adding an indoor elevator.

Project initiation: 2002
Project completion: 2010
Project Initiator: The First International Bank
Tower Architect: I.M.Pei & Partners in cooperation with Nir-Kutz Architects
Project management: Nitzan Inbar Project Management

Background:
The Schick House, facing the Mediterranean Sea, located at the corner of Bugrashov and ha-Yarkon streets, was planned according to the International Style by architect Avraham Kabiri for the Schick family. This is a residential building built in 1934-35; in 1937, the ground floor was converted into a restaurant/coffee shop.
The building’s location, facing the shoreline, only adds to its importance as a part of Tel Aviv’s façade, as seen from both the land and the sea.

Project Description:
This project was based on a local urban plan which had cancelled a prior expropriation made in order to widen the nearby road, thus enabling the preservation of this house.
The building was in very poor physical condition, mainly due to its proximity to the sea and a chronic lack of maintenance.
The coffee shop on the ground floor was restored to its original condition; the two floors above it were prepared as residential apartments. The addition of two floors on top of this preservation-designated building provided the economical funding that financed the elaborate preservation process.

Project initiation: 2002
Project completion: 2010

Project Initiator: private
Project Manager: Yossi Sapir

Background:
The year 1935 saw the beginning of the planning process of an impressive, modernist structure for Mr. Eliezer Rubinsky by the architects L. Kranowski and E. Marcusfeld (whose signatures appear on the plans); no documents were found regarding the involvement of architect Lucian Korngold (to whom the planning is attributed, probably erroneously).
However, this fact does not detract from the building being one of the most important and prominent buildings in the International Style in Tel Aviv. The approval of these plans was accompanied by a struggle familiar to us from the Engel House (84 Rothschild St., planned by Zeev Rechter), due to the Tel Aviv Municipality’s initial objection to building on pillars; once it was persuaded to do so, the city even required that all the buildings built in Tel Aviv from the late 1930’s on be built on pillars.
The building was erected as a residential building with spacious apartments and a luxurious lobby. However, it became well-known for the design of its different and distinct façades (facing Gilboa and Sheinkin streets). The whole building is coated with ground plaster (Kratzputz) with a sparkling mineral additive typical of the period and constituting one of the building’s identifying marks.
This building attests to the fact that International Style architects in Tel Aviv used to decorate their buildings with modern-style decorations, something that went completely against the spirit of the Bauhaus founders and of the period. One may notice the awnings, the round windows, rounded terraces, hanging concrete beams and gutters serving more as ‘decorations’ than fulfilling some practical function.

Project Description:
The building was purchased in 2006 by an entrepreneurial company that wanted to preserve it within the framework of the “Heart of the City” (Lev Ha’air) urban plan and to add a new penthouse that would not be too conspicuous from the street below. Its external envelope was carefully preserved, including the preservation and restoration of most elements in the building.
The interiors of most of the apartments were changed according to the owners’ needs. An internal elevator was installed and all the technical and electromechanical systems were replaced.
The improvised parking, occupying the entire area underneath the frontal pillars, was cancelled and several official parking spaces were arranged at various locations inside the lot. In addition, all the terraces that had been enclosed over the years were reconstructed and reopened.

Project initiation: 2006
Project completion: 2008

Project Initiator: White City Buildings
Interior Architect: “Gad Studio”
Project management: Shlomo Rotlevi Engineering Ltd.

Background:
The Koren House was planned by architect Arieh Streimer in International Style. The building was erected in 1933 and served as a hotel until 1975. It has three floors, each of which, according to the original plan, had four bedrooms with several guest beds, a kitchen and central washrooms.

Project Description:
This building was planned anew as a residential building with fully preserved and reconstructed façades and stairways. The number of residential units increased from 3 to 7. No new construction was added.
The interior design integrates new elements planned in the spirit and style of the original period in which it was built.

Project initiation year: 1998
Project completion: 2001

Project Initiator: Private

Background:
This building was built in 1935 in International Style following plans by architect Dov Carmeli. The building, occupying two adjacent lots, contains two stairways sharing a single entrance lobby. The façades are minimalistic and clean; the interiors are spacious and have high ceilings.

Project Description:
This project included the preservation of the building’s envelope and stairwells, as well as the addition of two new residential floors set farther back on the roof. The construction included the preservation of all the envelope details; those that had not endured due to the considerable erosion caused by the proximity to the sea, were restored. The work included: concrete restoration, restoration of porch banisters, the reconstruction of lime-based plaster, restoration of the clay ventilation pipes on the porches, and the preservation and restoration of the windows, doors and wooden shutters.
The newest additions included spacious apartments planned for maximal exposure to the sea panorama. These apartments are characterized by large openings covered by external awnings made of white concrete beams and wooden planks.
In order to adapt the building to modern living standards, parking spaces were added around the back, as well as elevators, a fire-extinguishing system and conduits for technological systems.

Project initiation year: 1997
Project completion: 2002

Project Initiator: Private

Background :
The building at Sha`arei Nikanor st. at the corner of Shmu’el Ben `Adiyah St. was designated by the TelAviv-Yafo Municipality as a residential building for preservation. It was built in the second half of the 19th century as a typical Arab urban residential structure, of the ‘house with a central space’-type, more commonly known as a ‘Lebanese house’. Originally, the building stood outside the city walls and was surrounded by gardens and orchards, but over the time other buildings were around it, creating the northern Ajami neighborhood.

Project Description:
The guiding planning principle was the restoration of the structure with all its historic qualities and its transformation into a high-class residential building with seven residential units, public spaces and other technical areas. The main effort of the preservation work was concentrated in the central space that grants the building its unique character and on the various architectonic elements, mainly the original ones made from wood and marble.
In order to provide a similar, special character to the residential units as well, all of them were divided into two levels, with the living room towering at a double height, with an open kitchen plan; the apartments enjoy abundant light and open onto porches facing the sea.

Project initiation year: 1997
Project year: 2000

 
Project Initiator: Naaman Eitan Company

Background:
The Levine House was built in 1924 by architect Yehuda Magidovich for Zvi Yaacov Levine and his family. According to the main design concept, the building was supposed to create a sort of urban estate. The yard contained graduated terraces of vegetation and a fish pond, and separates the residential building, the carriage house and the green garden from the clamor of the neighboring streets. The building was built in the fashion of vacation homes, popular in late 19th century Italy, with some neoclassical influences – mainly in the architectural details.

Project Description:
This preservation effort was part of an extensive project that included the erection of a 22-storey office tower (Elrov Tower). The first phase included an unprecedented engineering operation in which the original building was disconnected from its foundations and transferred to a new system of foundations, in order to enable the excavation and construction of a 7-floor underground parking lot (under the existing building). The second phase included the planning and execution of meticulous restoration and preservation works designed to restore the building to its original condition. Until several years ago, the building was being used by the Sotheby Company to conduct public art auctions. The company used two floors of the structure for offices and meeting rooms, while the upper basement, under the preserved building, was used for various events and as a public auction venue. At present, the building is being used by the “Heseg Fund.”

Project initiation year: 1992
Project completion: 1997
Project Initiator: El-Rov Company
Tower Architect: Yaski-Sivan Architects
Project Manager: Eng. Moshe Lanenberg

Background:
The Tversky House is a 2-storey residential building that was planned and built in 1924/25 by architect Yaakov Schwartz. The building was planned in an Eclectic Style, characteristic of Tel Aviv in the 1920s. The building plan is symmetrical and, like many other buildings from that period, the design of the main façade is rich in decorations made of pre-fabricated concrete elements, as well as carpentry work of the highest quality. The side and rear façades are simpler in their designs.
Since the 1920s, this building barely had any external changes or additions, except for several tiny alterations of the main façade.

Project Description:
The structure was converted into an office building while carefully preserving all the decorative elements of the façade, as well as its symmetric plan and the stairwell.
Parking places were built at the rear of the house, inside a new basement especially excavated for this purpose underneath the back courtyard.

Project initiation: 2007
Project completion: 2010
Project Initiator: private

Background:
Eliavzon House was built in 1909 as part of Ahuzat Bayit at the corner of Herzl and Rothschild streets. Most of the original structure was demolished in the 1930s and replaced by the current structure. The ‘new’ structure was planned in an L-shape, following the principles of the International Style. The main façades display the architectural language characteristic of this style: a horizontal array of windows emphasized by cornices and hanging terraces (balconies); a stairwell protruding from the skyline; emphasis on the building’s corner by rounding and geometric division. These plans also incorporated the neighboring building (4 Herzl St.) as part of the new façade.

Project Description:
This project included the preservation of the building’s envelope and the stairwell, and a new western wing was added in the front, facing the new square.
All the envelope’s details were preserved or restored: the concretes were rehabilitated; the porch banisters were restored, as well as the lime-based plaster. Likewise, the wooden windows, doors and shutters were also preserved and restored.
The ground floor of the structure was converted into office and commercial space and was bought by the French Government to serve as the French Cultural Center in Israel.

Project initiation: 2003
Project completion: 2005
Project Initiator: Africa-Israel Investments Ltd.

Background:
The cornerstone of the Weiss House was laid in the summer of 1909, marking one of the first buildings in Ahuzat Bayit. The building was planned and erected by Akiva Arieh Weiss himself, one of the founders of Tel Aviv, and was built solely by Hebrew labor, with exposed gravel bricks.
Originally, this structure had only one single floor, which was the Weiss family residence. In the 1920s, the whole ground floor was vacated to accommodate Weiss’ commercial business and another floor, with residential apartments for the family, was built above it.
Over the years, the building underwent many changes, making the identification of the original building almost impossible.

Project Description:
Extensive research was done, after which the structure was restored and converted into a restaurant and offices. The preservation of the historic structure was part of an Africa-Israel Company Project, which included: the preservation of three buildings along Herzl Street; the construction of an office tower; the excavation and building of a large underground parking garage; and the positioning of an urban square above it.
This planning was preceded by meticulous historical and architectural documentation, serving as the basis for the complex plan for the structure’s restoration, in general, and the sea sand and shell bricks façades at the ground level, in particular. Remnants of the original façades were discovered only after the dismantling of the later additions and they were integrated into the restored façade.

Project initiation: 1996
Project completion: 2001
Project Initiator: Africa-Israel Investments Ltd.
Tower architects: Yaski-Sivan Architects
Development Architect: Architect Uri Miller – Landscape Planning
Interior planning: in partnership with Turel & Cohen Architecture

Background:
The “Pollack Courtyard” is located near the A. A. Pollack House at 20 Ahad Ha`am St – one of the first buildings of “Ahuzat Bayit”. At the center of this historic courtyard, planned in the spirit of Tel Aviv’s 1920s, stands a kiosk – a round wooden structure. For most of its existence, this structure housed a typewriter repair shop owned by the Chelnick family, who lived in the building. Over the years, the courtyard was neglected and fell into disuse.
Project description:
The objective of this project was to convert the courtyard and its structures into a restaurant. The new planning retained the original elements; the original show-windows facing the street were preserved and restored. The kiosk, which had for many years suffered from insufficient maintenance, required basic restoration by wood preservation experts; even the old trees were cared for and rehabilitated. After the preservation work was completed, both the structure and the courtyard reflected almost all the original architectural planning
Today, due to work being done on the building, both the courtyard and the structure are gone.
Project initiation year: 2000
Project completion: 2001
Project Initiator: private