Har Hotzvim, Jerusalem
Mount Hotzvim is a hi-tech park in Jerusalem that was established in the early 1970s, and hosts some the biggest companies of the Israeli hi-tech industry.
The gap between the companies' buildings and the neglected public space in which they sat led to the development of this plan, initiated by the RL Company and the Jerusalem Municipality. Its goal was the restoration of the public space, which includes sidewalks, the development of places to stay, accessibility, signage, and the transformation of the public space into an inviting space for local employees, guests, and passers-by.
The search for a unifying language and an inviting space alongside the current situation where the defined "public" space is narrow sidewalks on the various streets bordering the private lots only, led to locating open, neglected and unusable areas in the private lots blocked by fences and opening them towards the street to create one open sequence.
In these areas, balconies for staying under old trees, spaces for outdoor work, sitting and gathering were developed. The design language utilized existing walls along the sidewalk on which elongated benches were placed that also serve as a fence. The entrances to the complex were emphasized, where vegetation was integrated, a green wall, seating areas and the replacement of signage.
The material language combined the paving of the sidewalks, with bamboo decking in the entrance areas and the seating areas, the combination of materials created a new urban space with a uniform language and the feeling of a rich work campus in which many living areas are used by local employees and passers-by throughout the day.
Team: Anna Lena Heimann, Beni Barzellai, Liran Malka, Maia Dorin
Client: JDA, Jerusalem Municipality
Management: Adi Hadar
Phase I Completed, 2019
Phase II under construction