A Contemporary House Inspired By The White City of Tel Aviv
The White City of Tel Aviv refers to the buildings (over 4000) constructed between the the 1930s and 1950s. They were built by German Jewish architects who immigrated there after the rise of the Nazis. The U house is an homage to that movement and its design reflects that. The simple, white facade, the ribbon windows and the overall clean and crisp look are all characteristics of the house that Ronnie Alroy Architects completed in 2016.
The U House is a single family home with a surface of 350 square meters. It has ribbon windows and a very simplistic architecture, with a design that interacts with the surroundings by contrasting with them. Also, the interaction between the indoor and outdoor of the house is very flexible even though the designs are very different in each case.
The ground floor houses the public spaces. The living area faces the back yard, being open towards the view. The entire wall that separates this space from the outdoors can disappear on the sides, exposing the entire floor to the freshness of the outdoors.
A wood and metal staircase sits at the center of the house. Its role is to connect the floors and to ensure a smooth and comfortable transition between them but in this case it’s actually much more than that. In addition to being a standard staircase, this structure also doubles as something else on each floor.
The basement serves as a sort of workspace/ home office with its own cozy living space, wooden floors and simple furniture. The staircase in here doubles as a support element for a desk. On the ground floor, its role is that of a divider between the dining area and the kitchen. A skylight positioned above the staircase brings natural light into the core of the house.