"Sarona" Urban Park, Tel-Aviv | zur wolf landscape architects

"Sarona" Park is an urban complex in the heart of Tel-Aviv, that stretches over 46,000 Square meters. It is a unique urban situation for a public park to include the Templers settlement historic buildings, established in 1871, which now houses modern functions of commerce and restaurant business . The new design revives the old spirit of the settlement as an urban complex for recreation and entertainment, giving it a modern interpretation, and creating a Flexible space for diverse public and community activities. The park pathways recreate the privet farm plots around each house, where garden and useful plants were grown. The main historic streets in the renewed park are paved for pedestrian use and are defined by low fences separating the historic plots from the street, much like the old street section. The planning process included a comprehensive survey for the hundreds of existing trees, a survey for each of the 36 remaining historic buildings, which some of them had to be moved backwards from the expanding Kaplan Northern street route, in a remarkable engineering effort. The park is divided into four Inner cores surrounded by historic buildings, and another part comprising the historic winery and distillery. Each part was analyzed to characterize its appropriate modern uses: The main gathering area is placed where the school and the old settlements hall used to be, now also contains an ecological pond and a wind pump that refers to the old system of fluid water. There is a dancing and skating arena which placed where the settlements tennis courts used to be. Sarona park was Opened to the public on April this year, after 15 year of planning process and almost three years of construction.