Tel-Aviv, Israel
Pitsou Kedem designed this private family spa as a glass pavilion floating above the ground and hovering over green vegetation to be glimpsed again in reflecting pools wrapped around the building’s perimeter on this quiet street in a residential neighborhood in Tel-Aviv.
The intention was to create a structure that does not separate indoors and outdoors, making the structure an inherent part of the garden.
To achieve this fluidity, he designed a transparent cube over which floats a thin 8cm roof constructed in a similar way to an airplane wing to create a pillar-free perimeter.
Three sides of the building are transparent, while a special aluminum system enables the full-height glass walls to glide open smoothly and allow the interior and the garden to blur into one another.
The fourth side faces the street. Here the interior is partially concealed by a wall of architectural concrete and a run of vertical full-height metal struts that provide privacy to the residents while allowing them to catch glimpses of the street.
The structure is divided into two wings: one serves as a residence while the other is a spa, complete with a jacuzzi blended into one of the wrap-around reflecting pools.
The passageway dividing the wings serves too as a throughway between the two halves of the garden and opens out onto a green outlook at both ends.
As sunlight refracts in the smooth water of its reflecting pools, and as night falls and the lights in and around the spa switch on, the pillar-free ‘floating’ structure becomes infused with light and movement, further accentuating its luminosity and its magical setting.
Project: Private Spa
Architects: Pitsou Kedem Architect
Client: Private
