Library Apartment

The apartment is located in a unique 1930’s social-housing building in the heart of Tel Aviv. It’s part of an urban block with a dozen buildings and a semi-private garden at the center, filled with large old trees and lush vegetation.
The owners are a young modern couple with a great love for music and literature who enjoy living in the city. They understood the meaning of an urban apartment where every meter counts; so in order to provide a spacious public area in the apartment, the private area and bedrooms were kept compact.
From the very beginning it was clear that the owners’ vast collection of books and vinyl records would take center stage. The challenge of displaying over 2500 items in their library became the anchor of the project.
A multi-functional library was designed as the main architectural element and it divides the apartment in two. On one side- the public area with the kitchen, living room and terrace, and on the other side- three private bedrooms. Apart from the book and records, the 7 meters long library also contains a countertop for keys right near the entry door, a dj stand and a small liquor cabinet.
The library’s wooden top shelf passes over the corridor leading to the bedrooms- changing the proportions of the passage. It was made to carry the weight of a metal ladder so one can easily reach the books at the top. The lowest shelf is made of green marble to match the color of the windows and outside trees. It continues perpendicularly into the living room where it becomes a bench and a tv cabinet.

Green, black and natural oak are chosen as the main colors for the apartment, materializing differently in each space. Most of the space is covered with herringbone pattern wood flooring while light grey terrazzo tiles, referencing the typical style of old modernist Tel-Avivian apartments, are used for the kitchen floor.

The master bedroom was planned to be as compact as possible with just enough space for a bed and large custom made plywood wardrobe. Black and white terrazzo is used for the adjacent bathroom floors. It is paired with a green marble countertop and a green painted ceiling. A glass door and an upper fixed window were designed to light up the rather tight bathroom.

For the kids, a calm shade of green is chosen to compliment the window frames and lush trees outside. A hand made woven swing was placed right between the two rooms for the kids to swing on.
The main bathroom is tiled with black and green terrazzo and cabinets were designed in white to keep the room bright and airy. The lower drawer functions both as storage and a platform for the kids to stand on.