Projects/Savyon Nurseries

Savyon Nurseries

Together with Ruth Kedar Architecture, 2010. A suburban neighbourhood of 65 large detached and medium-sized semi-detached houses in a developing extension to an existing village in Central Israel. Looking at the forms and materials of late twentieth century homes in the country, we developed designs strongly reminiscent of these, but incorporating novel elements, such as the courtyards and the roof profiles, which combine a sense of fun and freshness with that all important hint of nostalgia.

The semis are entered through a small courtyard, which also acts to bring indirect sunlight to both sides of the house, and is contiguous with the dining/living area through sliding doors, as well as being cooled and refreshed by a fountain and a porous wall that together generate?up-draft. In both house types, the roof shapes create small mezzanines above the bathrooms, which are used as private studies, as well as creating pressure differentials within the room with high and low windows that generate cooling drafts.

The houses are a tight square form, but are articulated so as to read as a collection of smaller elements huddled together. They are organised around a central courtyard which brings indirect light, and triple aspect, to many of the rooms, as well as acting as an integral part of the frequently used communal areas on the ground floor. As in the Semis, the roof shapes create small mezzanines above the bathrooms, which are used as private studies, as well as creating pressure differentials within the room with high and low windows that generate cooling drafts.