Levin Packer Architects designed a private house in Hertzliya Pituah, beachfront district in western Herzliya, Israel.
The white modernist house is a perfect rectangle with dimensions of 8/17. The rectangular structure is kept, while volumes are subtracted for balconies. The sloping zinc roof is also integrated into the rectangular structure.
As the site is narrow, long and small, the goal was to enlarge the view to all sides of the garden, to allow maximum openness of the ground floor to it, this way letting the garden penetrate through. The garden accompanies the house and becomes an integral part of the ground floor. It is continuous through the whole plot. It starts from the very entrance at the fence of the plot with an oblong garden that leads to the main door entrance of the house, then proceeds and reaches the garden with the pool at the bottom of the plot.
Since the ground floor area is only 187 m2, there was no question of putting divisions that can block the view. Thus the staircase, located in the center of the space, creating a vertical axis movement and dividing the floor into two areas, became transparent to let the outside come through. The transparency is achieved by a gap in the wall, filled with delicate thin metal lines that underline the verticality of the element and act as a mindful continuation of the wall. The airy staircase lets space be completely discovered.
The ground floor contains two public areas, the living space, and the kitchen and dining area. As mentioned above, there is a full linkage between those spaces, accomplished by the staircase’s transparency, yet the staircase positioning provides two separated functional areas. The kitchen and dining area overview the entrance garden, while the living area is completely connected to the back one.
The architectural design is minimalistic, rich in details and materials. Natural oak, natural stone, black metal, cement plaster wall, colored textiles, soft wild plants in contrast with the strong linear lines of the architecture. The lighting is very precise and is an integral part of the planning, providing long lighted accents in carefully selected areas.
Repetitive materials create uniformity, natural oak for flooring, stairs and entrance door, black metal for the light fixtures, fireplace, stairway’s railing and balconies’ railing, black aluminum for all openings and cement plaster walls. Photography by Amit Geron
