L-2 House

Rechovot, completed 2000

 

The L-2House supports the lifestyle of a professional couple who wished for privacy while being able to entertain in a grand style. Organized into two main blocks, on either side of an enclosed courtyard, the L-2 House ensures that the occupants can enjoy the benefits of outdoor living without being put "on display." A clinic, a fitness room, two studios, and a basement swimming pool supplement the usual family functions.

The L-2 House's exterior was designed to express a modesty which belies its generous dimensions. Simple textured-plaster, whose use evokes historic buildings in the Rehovot area, is used on the exteriors. Additional elements of painted steel are combined with mahogony trellises to complete the material palette.

Subtle details enhance the apparent simplicity of the forms: Stone coping lines the top of the plaster walls; thin metal channels define horizontal reveals around the exterior walls; and fenestration on the street elevation is held to a minimum.

Along the east elevation, the L-2 House features a screen wall to afford privacy to the innder courtyard. The highly-articulated character of this wall allows a feeling of openness while deflecting direct views to the interior. Intensive planting around the L-2 House makes an otherwise austere aesthetic more rich.

Uniquely detailed support structure, needed to support the screen wall against wind and earthquake loads, adds special definition to the passages between solid elements.

Behind the screen wall, and connection the two main blocks of the house, a two-story arcade provides shelter for the occupants. Adjacent to the central courtyard, the arcade is built from exposed, architectural concrete cast to a high degree of perfection. Additional materials, including mahogony, marble, and glass, reinforce the natural palette of the L-2 House's exterior.

On the second floor of the arcade, the solidity of concrete is replaced by lighter elements of wood and steel. Even during the hottest days in Rehovot, the airiness of this second floor pergola provides a cool relief.

At the basement level, a swimming pool runs the length of the arcade directly above. An extraordinary exposed concrete structure allows light to pour in around its members. A dismountable mahogony wood floor allows access around the pool. Stainless steel "stockings" protect the concrete columns from corrosion by the treated pool water.