36 Maze St., Tel Aviv-Yafo – The Water Tower
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