A Tel Aviv flat that was after the home of Israel’s 1st prime minster has been renovated and extended by neighborhood firm Pitsou Kedem Architects to create a new basement level with industrial-style fittings .

A framework of chunky black I-beams supports the ceiling of a new basement floor, added by Pitsou Kedem Architects to the flat formerly owned by the late David Ben-Gurion, who was instrumental in the founding of the Israeli state and was prime minister in between 1955 and 1963.

“The ground floor apartment we developed was previously the property of Israel’s very first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, which lends historic significance and magic to the developing and the apartment,” said the architects.

The project, known as Previous Turned Into Space, involved reorganising the interior of the ground floor apartment, which is situated inside a two-storey block created by Ukrainian architect Yosef Berlin in 1925.

The protected creating features renaissance-style arches with segmental keystones, balconies and pale pink plasterwork, and is located inside a UNESCO heritage website in Tel Aviv.

Associated story: Geometric panels generate textured walls inside monochrome penthouse by Pitsou Kedem

This meant the architects had to contend with severe creating restrictions to add the subterranean level that would allow them to expand the residence into a 220-square-metre duplex apartment.

“Excavating in a preservation building is complicated,” said the architects. “We had to alter a central concrete pillar that supports vertically the entire constructing.”

The new level is supported by timber-imprinted concrete and a six-metre-tall I-beam that spans the height of the two floors.

A palette of exposed concrete, glass and steel have been continued throughout the interior, lending an industrial appearance to the interior spaces that contrasts with the building’s ornamental facade.

“We chose to use concrete and steel because we treat them as timeless materials,” said the architects. “This mixture with a preservation building felt appropriate.”

“Because the construction elements we developed have been totally new, we took care not to hide them but left them exposed in order to inform the story of the renovation.”

On the decrease floor, glass panels pivot to reveal a study and bedroom adjacent to the double-height stairwell. Curtains can also be drawn across the glazing to give privacy from the stairwell.

Red door handles, patterned rugs and white fittings offer accents of colour to the grey-toned spaces, while furnishings, including moulded wooden chairs, aim to reflect the architectural period of the building.

“All the furniture was very carefully selected to complement the typical culture that connects amongst two periods in time,” said the group.

A steel staircase adjoins a metal-panelled wall at 1 side and breaks at a mid point to kind a gap among the treads.

This upper section of staircase is enclosed by metal balustrades infilled with red mesh. A white light fitting with articulated arms and shades hangs over the fenced-in well.

Upstairs, a lengthy light tube slices across the the timber-imprinted concrete ceiling – a feature also employed by the team in their renovation of a penthouse apartment in the city.

A length of dark metal extends from underneath 1 end of the polished stainless steel kitchen unit, prior to rejoining the floor to kind an informal dining region.

By a soft seating location, an arched doorway leads to a street-facing terrace with a black and white chequered floor.

Photography is by Amit Goren, with styling by Eti Buskila.

Project credits:

Design and style group: Irene Goldberg, Tamar Berger, Pitsou Kedem
Architect in charge: Tamar Berger

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