Up Up Up To Date by BMarc | Blumenfeld Moore Architects

The Cottage in a city in the Sharon region of Israel, originally built in 1975, was renovated for a couple that is beautiful inside and out - him in the computer business and her in textile. The cottage has two airways from the north and south, with the house in total spanning 210 sqm over two floors and having gone through multiple renovations over the years.
Since the house was originally built as part of a more generic contracted construction project, it was obvious that not a lot of thought was put into the quality of the space. Despite the house's history of renovations, the house was never designed with a consistent visual language - the spaces were practical, but the owners wanted to imbue them with character, a more direct expression of their exquisite taste in art and design. The couple indeed had many pieces of art, from which several were picked for display for their emotional and visual merit, with the spaces designed to compliment them.
The process of planning and finalizing the design happened rather quickly, with the renovation taking place over several months throughout which the house took on a new form.
As you open the entry gate into the lot, a green garden split into two levels is revealed, clearly separating the entrance from the sitting area, which you can exit to via the large vitrine straight out of the living room.
The entrance features service cabinets, a door and walls all covered in uniform MDF palettes, painted in the color of the wall.
As you walk into the living room, you then see the entire space of the ground floor from the southern garden all the way to the northern one. The kitchen and dining room face the southern garden while the living room, with slightly higher ceilings, faces the northern garden. In the center of the space you will find the stairs leading to the first floor. The stairs were straightened and covered with MDF palettes, with built-in storage that makes the most of the space at the base.
The first floor features a lounge, office and bedroom, with an additional living room for the family to watch TV. The wall of the office in front of the stairs was opened and a door and wing were installed, made of wooden frames glazed with clear glass - giving a great view of the treetops outside. Behind the vitrine we installed a clear frameless glass railing. The desk was centered so that the person working could face the room as well as the view outside the window. In the entrance of the floor, a white grate was installed from floor to ceiling and acts as a see-through divider between the stairs from the first floor and the stairs leading up to the attic.
The bedroom was divided so that the bed was placed with its back to the internal wall, facing a large window overlooking the treetops. The entry to the bathroom was moved to the closet area, with the existing opening between the bedroom and bathroom expanded and a wooden divider glazed in non-transparent glass on the bottom.
The design and execution of this house was done in harmony and with great joy, especially because of the special clients who we had the privilege to design for, as well as contractor Nati Bar-Kochba, who is always great to work with - with his great attention to detail, dedication and professionalism. We can only wish ourselves many more projects like this one.