Habad School, Nazareth Illit (Israel)

 

The "Habad" piety is largely involved in the community life and the general public.

 

This presented the main design challenge – making the school (combined with the nearby synagogue and sports hall) a lively center of the entire neighborhood.

 

In order to allow the public to use the building, the objective functions (which are not the mother classes) were situated in proximity to the street on the east, allowing access directly from the outside off school hours, with no need to cross through the classes areas.

 

An open area is formed between the two schools, and is used as a local amphitheatre and cafeteria off school hours by the community. This open area is situated next to a green yard sloping to the west, separating the two schools. The yard is partially roofed, allowing outdoor activities during rain or hot sun.

 

The 2^nd phase of the school will be situated between the schools built in the 1^st one. The objective functions will be built in continuation to the objective functions of the 1^st phase, creating together a linear building, distinguished as an "urban villa". This building will be used off school hours as a community center and a local library. It is orthogonally aligned with the built forms in the site and serves as a spatial and formal anchor to the surroundings.

 

The mother classes is divided to 3 groups (elementary-boys, elementary-girls, high school-girls) around the green yard, which is integrated in the outdoor spaces sequence, terraced in the natural topography. These groups are deviated to the scenery in northern or western references, preventing direct sunlight to the classes during school hours.