Location: Tzameret Park, Tel Aviv Apartment area: 215 square meters + 20 square meters balcony
Planning and design: Limor Bashan
Photographer: Yoav Peled
What do you offer to an entrepreneur and businessman from abroad who has courage, who wants for himself and his partner an apartment in Tel Aviv that will ensure that every visit to the city will be unforgettable, one that combines party hosting with quality time as a couple and relaxation?
Architect Limor Bashan had to face the challenge in a duplex in the Tzamerot neighborhood in Tel Aviv, and turn it into a unique space for entertaining and staying, inspired by New York loft apartments with an affinity for meticulous Italian style.
The couple's 215-square-meter duplex on the 32nd floor, with a 20-square-meter balcony, includes a public space of a kitchen and living room with a six-meter-high double ceiling, with floor-to-ceiling windows facing a breathtaking urban landscape. In addition, an accommodation unit, guest services, a laundry room and a double suite on the top floor.
"The goal was to create a luxurious and pampering space that creates an inviting atmosphere for the guests and friends of the apartment owners, but also gives the couple themselves a pleasant place to be intimate, relax and feel at home when they are on vacation in Tel Aviv," Bashan explains. She chose to combine different natural materials - stone, wood and glass - in order to create a space that is impressive and relaxing at the same time.
The accommodation space welcomes those entering the apartment with light natural stone flooring. Wide sofas in light colors, which sit on a beige carpet and on it a large coffee table that combines wood, leather and iron - all face the wall, on which the wood carpentry unit climbs to the entire height of the space (six meters). The unit is a focal point from anywhere in the space and highlights the high ceilings in the central space of the apartment.
Inside the carpentry unit is hidden the air conditioning system, the media system, in addition the television, a storage space and a fireplace for the winter are integrated into it. "Fortunately, I was given a free hand to choose an unconventional plan and special and innovative materials for the various spaces," says Bashan. The boldness in the choice of materials is evident in the dining area, facing the balcony, a blackened natural wooden table and chairs that combine metal and leather in camel tones.
Another exit to the balcony faces the kitchen, part of which is already visible at the entrance to the apartment and reveals an island made of magnificent Patagonian stone. The kitchen cabinets, in blackened pine wood with a Virginia Black surface, highlight the island and make it another focal point in the apartment. Next to the kitchen, two vertical lighting fixtures that come down from the ceiling, light the way to the accommodation unit and the guest services. The bathroom, with a floor-standing sink unit made of natural stone, is covered with dark onyx-like porcelain tiles from floor to ceiling.
The high space in the public area of the apartment is further emphasized by floating elements of lighting. The movement lighting sculpture creates a pleasant feeling of movement in the space, and the amount of light changes easily from strong lighting, suitable for entertaining to gentle and intimate lighting, which allows the couple to relax comfortably when they need quiet evenings alone. The sculptural lighting element extends into the kitchen and towards the stairs to the second floor, allowing the couple and their guests to experience the high space from any point in it. "It was important to me to create harmony and a strong connection between the spaces of the house, whether it is in material or in form, lighting or color," says Bashan.
Light wooden stairs with a railing and cables stretched to the ceiling lead those who come to the top floor of the duplex. Up here, the couple's master suite is tiled with light oak flooring. A brown bed, a beige carpet and blackened wooden chests, above which hanging reading lamps, together create a warm atmosphere for sleep, rest and intimacy.
Also in the suite: a light wooden console, an armchair with an iron finish and warm gray leather and a sculptural wooden rack by the Italian company Zanota for hanging clothes.
The bed in the room faces the wall of the bathroom which holds a surprise. The smart glass that makes up the wall becomes opaque or transparent at the push of a button and preserves the open atmosphere in the upper space of the apartment. Inside the bathroom, a huge shower contains a jet system from the Jessie company, imported by the Moody company, which was precisely adjusted to the couple's measurements. Floor-to-ceiling light onyx tiles, Virginia Black stone sinks and surfaces, and massive oak stools recall the The space is below and creates continuity between the two parts of the apartment.Concealed lighting and dehumidifiers in the mirrors complete the meticulous atmosphere in the bathroom.
Back in the sleeping area, the TV is in a plaster ceiling with an electric lift. When the couple is not watching TV, it goes back to the wall and disappears into it with the push of a button.
And of course, before going downstairs to welcome guests, the couple enjoys a walk-in closet made entirely of wood and a light oak parquet floor that continues from the bedroom. Here, in the walk-in closet, the couple will dress and get ready, with a mirror on the entry wall and an impressive floor-to-ceiling wall designed for an especially large collection of shoes. Now, the evening can begin.