The project is part of an invited competition for the design of a new building for the Faculty of Management at Tel Aviv University. The design brief called for a two-phase proposal - an initial 3,500 m2 containing different sized classrooms, offices, and an auditorium, and an additional 1,500 m2 to be added in the future consisting of extra classes and offices.
The proposed site for the building is a major focal point within the campus, facing both the main university square on its north side, and the main entrance to the campus to its west. The site is nestled between two existing buildings - the Recanati School of Management on its east and the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music on its west.
The building was designed with the intention of creating an edifice that represents an innovative and updated image for the Faculty of Management at Tel Aviv University, while at the same time taking into consideration the neighboring public spaces and the functional needs of the entire campus.
The shape and design of the building stem from optimizing climatic and programmatic considerations, and contribute to creating an effective and sustainable structure.
The planning process was undertaken using parametric design tools and through the utilization of computerized optimization processes that enabled to achieve the most effective solutions in accordance with the various design considerations and purposes.
Through the use of climatic simulation tools, the building’s formal massing and facades were designed in order to provide maximum efficiency in terms of minimizing radiation and maximizing sunlight.
Rather than covering the site with the entire volume necessary for both phases, the building's form was stretched out and extruded within the height limitations in order to minimize the building's footprint and retain a greater distance from the neighboring School of Music. The second phase was planned not as additional floors added on top of the first phase as suggested by the design brief, but as a separate extension to its south. This enabled a programmatic continuity in which similar functions within the same department could occupy the same floor and not have to be separated on different levels.
This also minimizes disturbance to the ongoing work and study activities during construction of the second phase. The floor levels were planned in accordance with the levels of the neighboring Recanati building in order to allow for future connection between the two buildings.
Apart from the entrance lobby and cafeteria, the ground floor of the building has been designed to stay open and unobstructed. This design makes it possible to preserve the existing public and service walkways, and allows the building to become a major focus of circulation throughout the campus. The auditorium is located on the lower floor of the building and is reached both from inside the building and via an outdoor area which serves as a gathering space and as a public plaza which is also connected to the main accessible campus route. The north facade of the building was rotated at a 45° angle in relation to the main university plaza in order to avoid direct sunlight in the classrooms which are primarily concentrated along this facade. The rotation enables the building to present itself simultaneously towards the main plaza on the north and the towards the western entrance to the campus, thus creating a dynamic and three-dimensional form, changing according to different viewpoints around the campus. While the classrooms are located along the northern facade, the staff and faculty offices are concentrated along the western facade in order to maximize views towards the sea and allow the sea breeze to naturally ventilate these spaces.
The design and materiality of the facades is on one hand contemporary and on the other corresponds with the facades of the Modernist adjacent buildings. The facades were designed to be as climatically effective as possible using several methods. Firstly, every floor was rotated at a 4° angle relative to the floor below, enabling self-shading on the facades. Circumferential balconies provide further shading and help reduce solar radiation. In addition, each exterior office wall was slightly tilted towards the north in order to increase shading. Finally, the entire structure was covered with a skin made of perforated aluminum slats, which provide significant shading for the facades in order to reduce solar gain. The rotation and depth of the louvers have been parametrically designed so that every point on the structure provides optimal climatic response depending on their location. However, visibility out of the structure is not compromised due to the fact that the distance between the slats is big enough.
The structure revolves around an internal atrium, which serves a number of functions. As a climatic feature it acts as a solar chimney operating on a stack effect which draws warm air from the base of the building up to the top floors, naturally ventilating the spaces and passively cooling the air. As a functional feature the atrium serves as a central space containing the building's vertical circulation all the way from the basement up to the roof terrace on the top floor. As a pivotal circulatory feature linking all the floors, the atrium functions as the building's social spine in which the movement of people between the different spaces becomes the major event within the building. The atrium is clad with thin wooden slats arranged in simple geometric forms in order to create optimal acoustic conditions and also to emphasize the unified space running the entire height of the building. An adjacent outdoor atrium allows natural light to illuminate the internal atrium. It also shades the western facade and enables the opening of exterior balconies on every floor.
By utilizing a design approach that encompasses contextual and programmatic considerations together with climatic concerns, the proposed building underlines its public purpose in relation to its setting, while at the same time providing an efficient and sustainable structure enabling maximum functionality for its everyday activities.
