Concrete slabs, translucent glass planks and frameless window walls supply varying degrees of privacy for this property in the Israeli city of Ramat Gan by Pitsou Kedem .
Kedem’s Tel Aviv-based studio – which also not too long ago completed a monochrome penthouse apartment – sought to produce seclusion at the street-facing front of the property, but to give a a lot more open feel to the spaces dealing with a personal garden at the rear.
A high wall separates the home, named Concrete Cut, from the street. Behind it, three distinct layers of materials existing a solid and impervious elevation towards the rest of the neighbourhood.
The bottom and leading layers are produced from translucent glass planks – the same material utilized by British architect Carl Turner for his Manser Medal-winning residence.
They allow daylight to filter within, and their tone and uniformity complement the robust surface of the concrete sandwiched in between.
“Viewed from the front, [the house] seems to be like a monolithic operation of components with a deep, monochromatic selection of colors,” explained the studio. “Three rectangular prisms, laid on 1 one more into a peaceful composition, stable and subdued, appearing as hefty masses.”
Connected story: Pitsou Kedem’s home in Israel is influenced by its “humble and timeless” Modernist neighbours
“A second, discerning glance reveals a dramatic encounter of components taken from two separate worlds – poured, massive concrete and glass panels, making a semitransparent wall with a decisive line running by way of it.”
The decrease portion of the glazed wall shields an entrance tucked behind a single corner. Bamboo stems that stretch upwards from the basement degree are backlit by light coming via the translucent surface.
A big pivoting doorway opens right onto the open-program kitchen and dining area, with the rest of the space along the front elevation accommodating services such as a bathroom, laundry, wardrobe and a lift.
At the far end of this room is a double-height lounge that seems to be onto the terrace and swimming pool through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Massive steel pillars in the corners of the space supply proof of the building’s supporting framework, whilst the concrete cladding extends in a sinuous line from the roof, down one particular side of the windows and across the facade before descending to the ground.
“Even though the front facade is an abstract creation conceptually assuring the blending of identity and perform, the rear facade graphically expresses three-dimensionality, the probing of depth and the feeling of brightness and freedom,” the architects said.
The big windows at ground floor degree integrate sliding doors that open onto the poolside terrace and extend along the west elevation to fill the lounge and dining space with natural light.
On the east elevation, a concrete wall supplies a surface on which to hang the television.
A window over extends diagonally along the line of a staircase that features open treads to maintain the openness of this circulation location.
The stairs ascend to a first floor containing bedrooms, a research and a bathroom behind a mezzanine library that overlooks the lounge.
Another staircase prospects down to a basement degree supplying a private location for the kids and a personal gym. A glazed wall lining the east side of this submerged storey opens onto a narrow yard.
The children’s bedrooms are located on the very first floor, even though the master bedroom suite is accommodated in a translucent glass box at the prime of the constructing.
Full-height windows flanking the bedroom at the rear appear out onto a roof terrace lined with a glass balustrade that extends along two sides of the creating.
Architect Pitsou Kedem’s very own residence also combines concrete and glass to evoke the aesthetics of Modernist architecture, even though an additional house designed by the studio close to Tel Aviv characteristics a perforated steel screen that casts a chequerboard shadow on its concrete walls.
Photography is by Amit Geron. Styling is by Eti Buskila.
Project credits:
Architect: Pitsou Kedem Architects
Style crew: Pitsou Kedem, Noa Groman
Architect in charge: Noa Groman
Lighting design and style: Orly Avron Alkabes
Floor prepare 
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