Graphic Design Guides an Apartment Renovation in Tel Aviv

Tasked with renovating a 1,184-square-foot apartment from the 1960s in Tel Aviv, architect Kedem Shinar reconfigured the interiors to include three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and open-plan living, dining, and kitchen areas, making the home much better equipped for modern living. 

By unifying the formerly separate spaces and rooms along the edge of the apartment, Shinar had a long, uninterrupted span of wall to then incorporate large, floor-to-ceiling glass windows, which flood the living areas with sunlight. 

The glass windows create a nook for the dining area, which leads out to a small corner balcony where a table and outdoor chairs from Tollman allow the owner to relax in the sunshine with a book. 

Next to this dining nook is an a wooden, built-in shelf table that extends from the glass windows to create a bar counter, where the owner can work or enjoy an afternoon tea while looking out at the urban landscape. 

Light gray hardwood floors bring the cool appearance of concrete into the living areas. 

Herringbone-patterned parquet was used for the bedroom flooring. 

Shinar says that the concept was inspired by two-dimensional graphic design. 

The home's graphic roots are showcased in a custom-made lamp that looks like a diagram scrawled on the living room wall, in the red grouting in the tiled bathroom, and in the black grouting in the kitchen backsplash that mimics graph paper. 

Decor items from the '60s—such as an iron, camera, and marketing poster for apartment building when it was first built—link the modern abode with its past. 

Custom-made, French oak cabinetry, along with color pairings of light gray and white and black and soft yellow, gives the space a calm and contemporary feel with a high hip factor. 

Project Credits: 

- Architecture and design: Kedem Shinar Design & Architecture

- Builders: Yossi Percic 

- Structural engineer: Ofer Gabrieli 

- Cabinetry design and installation: Guy Raz Carpentry 

- Tiles and sanitary fixtures: Mody Ceramics and Negev Ceramics 

- Photography: Gidon Levin