ZELLIGE

WID STUDIO – interior design studio
Michal Inditzky and Hagai Weinblum
The photography is by Hagai Weinblum

• The type of project, its area and location
180 square meter apartment in central Tel Aviv – ISRAEL . 4 rooms. 2 "inner" balconies (front balcony about 12 square meters and back balcony about 4 square meters).
• Division and characterization of the rooms
Hall with a large entrance closet that hides doors to the guest toilets and the utility room. Open public space with kitchen, living room, TV corner and dining area. A front balcony that can be accessed from both the living room and the kitchen.
A bedroom for a girl with an attached bathroom. A guest room with an attached bathroom and a master bedroom with an attached bathroom/sauna. The rear balcony can be accessed from the master bedroom and the guest bedroom.
• Description of the tenants
A couple in the second chapter of their lives. They both moved to the United States many years ago. They have one 11-year-old daughter together and grown children from their first marriage. They decided to partially return to Israel. A few months of the year they are in an apartment in Israel and part of the year they are with their adult children in the United States.
• Existing situation and planning and design vision
The customers are our repeat customers. In the previous project, we designed a vacation apartment for them for short periods when they visited Israel and a warm, pleasant and trusting relationship was created between us and them. When the Real estate broker called them to tell them about this apartment, they were in the United States, the days are COVID days and it was clear that they would not be able to come see the apartment in the near future. They trusted us to go alone and tell them what we thought of the apartment and whether we could implement all their dreams and needs in it.
On our first visit to the apartment we immediately noticed its amazing qualities. 4 directions of ventilation, with a view and a large and open distance both in the front and in the rear. The generous size of the property compared to apartments in the center of Tel Aviv that are not in modern towers and the two entrance doors allowed us design flexibility.
At the same time, the apartment was neglected, full of many rooms, diagonal walls, old and heavy carpentry, stone flooring that also climbed the walls and peeling wood coverings on all the walls of the apartment.
We advised them to purchase the apartment due to its many advantages, but it was clear that a complete renovation and redistribution was needed, and beyond that, thinking about emphasizing its advantages and adapting it to the needs of the family.

• Description of the final project
Thanks to our previous acquaintances with the customers, we were able to formulate a deep and personal concept that would connect to their emotions and roots. Both are of Moroccan descent and are very connected to the culture, to parents who were born there, to food and music. At the same time, both are businessmen, modern, people of the big world. We decided to develop a design concept that would draw inspiration from elements of Moroccan culture in a contemporary and local interpretation.
The initial choice was which door we chose to use. The obvious choice was the door that opens into the public space, in front of the balcony, where we ended up placing the decorative wall of the dining area. But, because the couple really likes their privacy, we decided to choose the back door, which both allowed us to make a complete division between the public and private space and also does not allow anyone who enters the apartment to see the entire public space directly.
Each of the areas, public and private, is designed around a balcony that we created, like an inner courtyard-"riad", which is customary in traditional Moroccan houses.
We gave the two balconies the feeling of an outdoor area - we covered the bedroom balcony with a handmade mosaic imported from Morocco, and on the public balcony we created a kind of pergola covered with Pine wood.
In the living room there is a huge and modular sofa that allows for a variety of seating arrangements depending on the type of accommodation and the number of guests. The sofa extends out to the balcony with another part that also allows dynamism of the seating arrangements. 3 iron tables in a modern Moroccan design by Gil Eldor are in the public space and allow moving and changing as needed.
A handmade brass lampshade imported from Morocco illuminates with a special texture when it is lit at night and gives a very special atmosphere in the public space.
The balcony has double sliding glass door- on its inside and outside. This way you can decide whether it is an external or an internal area, according to the need and according to the desire.
In planning the public space, we took into account the hosting of a large family and multi-participant events. The dining table also has a lot of space to open if necessary. Friday meals are very important to the family, so we covered the wall of the dining area with concrete and brass tiles by Bar-On Studio. These are two materials that repeat throughout the apartment - the Tel Aviv brutalist concrete and the traditional blackened brass.
Since the public space is oriented towards hospitality and conversation, the television takes a very non-central place in the space in a small but comfortable TV corner. One of the footstools of the sofa was designed exactly to the extent that allows the creation of a real bed for a pampering viewing or hosting additional people who stay to sleep. In the TV wall is a zero-line door that leads to a small system room where all the electrical cabinets for the smart electricity, the communication cabinet and the sound system are located.
The kitchen is large and spacious. It is divided into a work area with a concrete-like porcelain granite surface, practical and durable. And a sitting island covered with natural and wild stone. On the inside of the island, we left room for one bar stool, so that even those who cook can sit and chat with those sitting at the island, in the living room or in the dining area.
Handcrafted brass shelves hung above the work surface and provide an impressive background for decorative details and collections.
Another wooden beam was stretched between the balcony and a structural column that could not be lowered. The pillar has been cleaned and exposed down to the concrete it is made of. The column and the beam create a gate and form a division between the functions within the open space.
The large entry closet, which starts in front of the front door and eventually connects with the kitchen cabinets, contains a lot of storage, display shelves and two doors- one for guest toilets and one for a spacious utility room with washing machines, a sink and a cabinet for cleaning products.
A large wooden door designed by us and hand made by artisans in Morocco, separates the public and private space and allows complete privacy and silence even when there are guests in the public space.
3 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms connect to a small and cozy hall.
Much emphasis is given to the bathrooms. All are spacious, functional and pampering, similar to a Moroccan hammam.
All the bathrooms are claded with plaster-like porcelain granite tiles by the Italian company Marca Corona. In each bathroom we chose a different shade of the same collection accented by handmade Moroccan Zalizh tiles and brass finish faucets

For the daughter who lives with the couple regularly, we planned a bedroom with an integrated wardrobe, a work area and a bathroom with a luxurious bathtub.
The guest room, which will be used mainly by the adult children who will come to visit, is not very large, so we designed a bed back that is also used as a wardrobe and storage. The room has a large glass door with that exit to the rear balcony. Every day a dreamy sunset can be seen from here.
Here, too, is an attached bathroom with a large shower and plaster-like tiles.
In the parents' room are 2 large wardrobes - one for him and one for her. In the adjoining bathroom there is another wooden door that was ordered from Morocco. A double shower with 2 benches and two sets of faucets also serves as a wet steam sauna. A large piece of furniture with two sinks and two mirrors.
This room also has a large glass door that exit to the rear balcony.
As a conceptual decision, we tried to use as many local and Moroccan artists and designers as possible and order as many handmade and personal design elements as possible.
In Israel - the Moroccan tables and shelves by Gil, the concrete tiles by Itai Bar On, Muhammad who made the brass shelves in the kitchen, the brass linings in the entry closet, the brass butterflies in the wooden beams and the brass table from the legs of the owner's mother's sewing machine who died during the renovation (located on the back porch) .
The lighting fixtures with a rust finish above the dining area and above the island in the kitchen were made by an iron craftsman (Lasry lighting)
In Morocco - the mosaic tiles, the blue tiles, the lamp on the balcony, the wooden doors and the mirror in the daughter's bathroom.