Hertzel 100

ODO Architects

Short description

"Sandler house" was built at the beginning of 1940's of the 20th century by an unknown architect. The four stories building was designed in a typical Florentine neighborhood block, combining commence, industry and residence. At the back front of the lot there was an active two floors roof-tiled sausage factory.

The architectural character of Florentine neighborhood is unique to Tel-Aviv. It is characterized by its building materiel – bricks – while the buildings façades are on the street line, with every building within the block is attached to the building next to it, ending with only two facades, similar to many European cities. The urban design of the area was a volume plan, designed by the British authorities during the British mandate of Palestine, who still characterize the neighborhood today, in a much different manner than the rest of Tel-Aviv's historic development, characterized with four facades buildings on a divided lot with fences and garden facing the street, obeying aspects of the City Garden Movement.

The architectural program included restoration of the original building and adding new residential volume, while keeping the street level for commerce. The front volume, facing the street, was restored. Two new stories and a roof story were built. At the back front of the building, where the original sausage factory was, a new 7-floors wing was built. The open passage, originally used for delivering goods and materials to the sausage factory, became the entrance hall of the new building. The new extension facing the street is covered in prodema surfaces with horizontal fluting. In addition, the balustrades in the new balconies are made of orange colored glass, in collaboration of to the historic building's order of two balconies with an arker separating between them. They also act as lighting box – a "jewelry" who decorates the of the building's capital.
The colored glass descending to the old building's façade, down to the original balconies, function as a separation wall between now divided two apartments. In this matter, the old restored part also gets a glimpse of the new, it gets to appear as a jewelry in the form of color stains on the façade. At the top end of the new extensions, the building ends with small roof made of concrete and covered with white plaster, quoting the original building and marking the borders of the building --- while new additions were built, it is still a whole, one building – and not two separated bodies.
The original building, designed by an unknown architect, in the vernacular version of the international style in Tel-Aviv, is a simple and symmetrical building. While preserving such building, with emphasize given on its historic and aesthetic values, we inspired to create a uniqueness and to draw people's attention from the similar mundane urban fabric surrounding him. By meticulous restoration, with a great effort on separating the new wing from the historic wing, while abiding historical British urban plan, still active on the lot. The original rhythm of the facades influences the new parts of the building - the new balconies and arker are at the same order. In that manner – we can see the difference between old and new but still capture the building a whole creating, as body with a new growth. The project is considered unique as it is an example of extraordinary corporation between the entrepreneur, the architect and the municipality because the building was not on the preservation list, made by Tel-Aviv's municipality. The entrepreneur was willing to preserve the building, while the municipality was ready to give him incentives given to buildings on the preservation list. The result was 28 units in different sizes between 35 to 85-meter square in a 300-metersquare lot. Restoring the building who is a part of the Florentine area promise that the neighborhood uniqueness – both to the city fabric and as a rare example of an international style neighborhood with only two facades.