S5-The house with a ribbon envelope in Hod Hasharon, Israel by Raz Melamed Architect

Article source: Raz Melamed Architect

A thin black iron ribbon envelops the house in Hod Hasharon, embodying the gift that its owners return to every time they come home.

The house was designed for a refined couple and their 3 children, who came to the project equipped with knowledge about innovations and construction technologies coupled with a vision for a unique design that spawned a fruitful dialogue with the architect.

In this 500-square-meter plot, architect Raz Melamed plays masses and transparencies which hide behind meticulous architecture and an interesting and harmonious combination of materials.

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

• Architects: Raz Melamed Architect
• Project: S5-The house with a ribbon envelope
• Location: Hod Hasharon, Israel
• Photography: Amit Geron

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

The front façade is almost completely sealed off to the street, and apart from a long stairway window that lets in light it maintains the occupants ’privacy. At the same time, Melamed’s intention was to create maximum transparency for the public space, so the other 3 facades open to the garden. Together, this forms an internal-external connection with large glass opening that create the illusion that the living floor, designed as a white opaque cube, floats in the air. The top developers incorporated refined iron reductions that both produce a sense of grandeur alongside privacy, meanwhile producing a continuous architectural language. Black iron runs as the second thread creating continuity of architectural element on all facades, openings and the parking lot. It is as if precisely its thinness, framed by openings and masses, is the actor that emphasizes the house’s contours and makes it both light and powerful.

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

The entrance gate opens to rows of large sidewalks surrounded by flourishing trees that produce a long and dramatic walk to the black door. The interior of the house displays the concept of the architect who believes in presenting materials in their natural state by using walnut wood, black iron, stone and clear glass. In this project, Melamed chose rather to use polished material, not in their raw state, to emphasize warmth and a sense of home alongside a modern and clean line.

The entrance to the house is enhanced by natural stone flooring, with a walnut staircase to the left leading from the basement to the top floor. These two floors are also paved with walnut wood, which a material frame that produces a continuous flow of material to the entire height of the house. Some of the wood comes out of the floor as a continuous move, some comes out of the covered wall as an individual unit, and all together it looks like a floating sculpture that creates interest in the space. The wood rest on a wall covered with natural stone like the flooring, which has been cut for cladding in varying sizes and depths. The cladding begins on an exterior wall that separates this home from the neighboring house, thus creating a continuous and spectacular connection with the facade of the house. Along the walls are hand-picked art pieces from an art curator who chose the perfect works to complement the home and its occupants.

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

Each step on the stairwell ends in a straight and sharp corner, just like the thin iron detail on the side, all connected through a clear glass railing that disappears into space and reinforces the stairs as the main showpiece of the home.

In the double ceiling hangs a transparent light fixture consisting of round cylinders and black touches, with its transparency contributing to the continuous line from the door to the garden. At the same time, its round shape applies the concept of the architect who believes that alongside straight lines in architecture, lighting and vegetation are essential to well-rounded geometry, which adds softness and refines the entire space.

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

Opposite the stairs is the kitchen, which was designed to suit the occupants who love to cook. In the center of the kitchen is a large wooden island. The kitchen’s ceiling features a massive fume hood, painted by the architect of his choice in gray-graphite, a shade chosen for all the metals in the house such as aluminum, air conditioning, light fixtures and shelves above the sink. These shelves are hung on a walnut wood cladding, which just like the island in front of it contributes to the warmth of the space and the interest in the cooking and hospitality experience. Above the sink, at the top of the walnut tree, a window opening lets in natural light and is responsible for ventilating the space.

The kitchen fronts are covered in a metallic-looking gray shade, including a TV wall and a hidden door planted in it that leads to the pantry and parking lot. The TV serves a casual daily dining area with light furniture, and above it an amorphous light fixture that looks like it is dancing down from the ceiling, bringing interest and joy to the area.

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

Image Courtesy © Amit Geron

Image Courtesy © Raz Melamed Architect

Tags: Hod Ha'Sharon, Israel

Categories: House, Residential

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