L.S HOUSE | The Southern Penthouse

This project included the redesign of a 250 square meter Penthouse overlooking the Negev desert in the southern part of Israel. It occupies the top floor of a luxury residential tower. The owners have great love for Israel, mainly for the Negev desert. The original interior was totally destroyed and the project started nearly from scratch with just the outer walls to work with. The internal divisions were planned by Moran Gozali according the needs of the owners, who wanted a spacious apartment where the family can stay. The planning took about four months; while the actual work required an additional seven months.

The project was inspired by the owner's strong wish to hold on to the desert location context. The leading concept here was the way desert temperatures change throughout the day- from hot to cold night. "first when I visited the location, I was fascinated about the transformation between hot days to cold nights. Its influencing me, not only the temperatures, also the feelings in the space from pleasant atmosphere to silence" recalls Gozali. From the challenge came the idea to create a modern home which creates a connection between materials emanating warmness, softness and elegance on the one hand, reminding the desert sand, and colder materials offering the sense of dark blue skies on silent desert nights, on the other. The merging of the desert landscape and the designed product imbues the harmonized apartment with natural materials and connections – wood, concrete, natural stone and metal.  The planning of the house began from separation of different areas. The privateand public areas are divided on the basis of the dominant materials used on their floors. The living room, dining area and master bedroom are defined by a herringbone parquet floor, expressing those areas as intimate siting and living spaces. The ‘public’ areas covered by large, thin marble-effect granite porcelain 6 mm tiles which symbolize areas where people pass through, make Actions and work."The house functions as one harmonic unit and becomes an integral part of the living room and the kitchen but still with some separation. You can cook and be part of the hospitality area in one open space" says Moran.Bridging those contrasts created some drama design-wise, where each connection, meeting point and view, led to another powerful experience within that space. The entrance to the apartment has the kitchen as its centerpiece. It’s where the family cooks, meets and talks. The island was designed in a way that allows sitting one in front the other, providing connection and intimate talks. A brass custom-made light element, 350 cm in length, is hanged above the island, emphasis the kitchen from the space around it. The living room is to the left of the entrance and has large floor windows which allow natural light to come inside. It's surrounded by a large outdoor balcony with panoramic view to the desert. In front of the long couch in the living room, stands a large woodwork unit with CNC grooves aiming to create a depth effect. Inside that unit there are hidden systems, such as a chimney for the gas fireplace, storage units, smart home systems, media units and a television set.“The challenge was to create a design experience, whose details all join together to create a complete, integral and harmonized space. Many technical and functional issues had to be solved in the best way. The planner need to be orchestra conductor of all the systems that together, will function as one sustained synchronized continuous system" says Gozali.

Beside the entrance, a thin black wooden bookcase was created, which aims to look like thin metal sheets. The unit has an industrial feel, yet just beside it one can see the dining room with its wood veneer and golden brass legs, thereby creating another design-led dissonance.

The spacious master bedroom unit is a central part of the house. It looks west at the sunset through a large screen window and has a spacious bathroom and walk-in wardrobe. The room designed in natural tones that matches the feeling in the house.

In order to form a large single continuous space, aluminum and glass system of sliding doors panels were used, thus helping to maintain a sense of wide-open, unbroken space. The materials and hues used in this project create an ephemeral sense that should last for years to come. Most of the units and furniture in the house designed by Gozali, including the bench in the shower that split up to 2 parts, that gives design idea for the glass location. “Each project involves total design, with an emphasis on quality and much attention to details. Each object and woodwork element are uniquely created for that particular house and uses a consistent and contemporary design language. As I said to my clients every wall is a project" says Gozali.

“What I learned from this project was that once the client trusts the designer, and the designer understands the client well, exciting experiences are created. So, in the physical sense, you end up with an careful, tailor-made design."