Firm： Auerbach Halevy Architects & Engineers

Type： Commercial › Bank Office

STATUS： Built

YEAR： 2019

SIZE： 0 sqft - 1000 sqft

Photos： Uzi Porat (29)

THE GLASS CHICKEN OR THE WOOL EGG? WHICH CAME FIRST? A FRIEND WHO IS A CLIENT OR A CLIENT WHO IS A FRIEND? COLOR OR MONOCHROME? A WOVEN POUF OR A GLASS WALL? CONTRACTOR OR PHOTOGRAPHER? THE LINES CONNECTING THE START, MIDDLE AND END POINT ON THIS PROJECT GOT TANGLED IN A VERY PRECISE MANNER.

Timeline: Several years ago, my studio was hired to design SVB's offices in Israel. It was an ethereal project, dealing with the mighty issue of timeless, using a compact toolbox of materials, colors and spatial manipulations. In two words: grey & light.

A couple of months ago I received an unexpected call from SVB stating they had to move to new offices in one of Tel Aviv’s new towers. Schedule was tight and budget was set. The only thing unknown was what to do (as much as I loved the existing SVB space, copy-paste is unheard-of strategy at Auerbach Halevy).

The answer was buried in my memory. During a recent trip to Milan, I came across a kilim pouf by Nani Marquina. The pouf spoke to me in a perfect accent of woven graphics and wool. People were there, but I have little memory of them.

But one pouf was not enough. I imagined a stained-glass wall in dialogue with six of Nani’s poufs on a grey terrazzo floor – this set against the dramatic skyline of Tel Aviv. This image was the inspiration for the entire office design. The rest was construction documents.

It is a business-oriented workplace for a bank. Yet it encompasses spiritual notions as restraint, respect to arts&crafts and love. Love of people, of plain daylight and of Tel Aviv.