N/A House
House N/A stands on a coastal plot in an exclusive residential area in Herzliya. There are far more buildings and building sites than green areas in this neighbourhood; the plot is therefore surrounded by another seven properties, each with a private garden. Designed for a couple and their two children, from the very beginning they emphasised that the garden should be as visible as possible from the house, whilst maintaining privacy.
The volume of the house has been articulated according to the visibility of nearby green fragments, and has been arranged over three floors. The visual centre of the composition is a square patio measuring 3,70 x 3,70 m, around which, the rest of the house is arranged. This garden is, above all, an area for mental acclimation, carefully recording light conditions as they shift and change.
Seen from the main road to the East, the building appears as a closed delimiting wall; only a front door denotes a private home. From the entrance gate, an ascent of a few stairs leads to a perspective of the house framed by a small garden, designed specifically with this view in mind. The fence and the East façade of the property are both clad in horizontal terracotta staves which maintain a uniform visual and material quality. The contrast of light and shade created by the staves produces an optical effect that extends the façade horizontally.
While the exterior implies a strongly introverted structure, it is inverted by the interior. An initial vista overlooking the kitchen, dining, and living rooms is filtered by the central patio, juxtaposing a glimpse of the internal garden and the full length of the property. The spatial continuity of this space is determined by these various visual sequences and by the play of volume heights. From the ground floor interior, openings frame specific views, on the North side these views are accentuated by the 60cm thickness of the walls. Externally, the mass of the North-Eastern walls is underlined by its neutral colour and deep apertures.
On the top floor, the bedrooms are articulated around the patio as three independent units. The children's bedrooms have a view of the dense expanse of trees along the avenue, while that of the parents has a view toward the sea.
N/A House by Itai Paritzki & Paola Liani Architects
