Smolarz Laboratory Building – Tel Aviv University

The two buildings of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University were built during its

establishment in the 1960s. These buildings were designed by architect Joseph Whitcover and

relate to each other as a symmetrical pair in a restrained architectural language of the early brutalist

style, utilizing architectural concrete. Over the years, the buildings have been painted white.

The Smolarz Laboratory Building, which we were commissioned to design, is an addition to the two

existing faculty buildings. It is intended to expand the faculty’s space in classrooms, laboratories,

and offices. Since the two existing buildings serve the same department, we proposed to build a

bridging structure, uniting them into one building.

In order to create this connection while maintaining a continuous flow of open space on campus, the

building was “raised” above the ground creating a shaded and vegetated area that enables student

meetings and informal study sessions during the summer, as well as organized and casual social

gatherings (as a tribute to the sunshade that was previously installed between the buildings for this

purpose). On the ground floor, which is the entrance floor to the “bridge” building, a kitchenette was

added allowing students to prepare or collect food on their way to the shaded area.

The two floors above bridge between the original buildings through wide corridors that connect to

existing ones. Along the western side of the corridors, the laboratory classrooms are built with a

glazed façade facing the view west toward Ramat Aviv and the sea. The laboratory classrooms and

desks are furnished with the latest equipment, and the surroundings facilitate a unique learning

experience. The interiors of the laboratories and their equipment were designed to enable hands-on

training of students.

On the roof, as an extension of the laboratories, an outdoor classroom covered by a sunshade was

designed. The building’s mechanical structure on the roof serves as a learning backdrop and

projection board. This is a vegetated floor, which also bridges the buildings and enables leisure

time under the sunshade.

Along the eastern side of the corridors on all floors, there are glassed-in meeting and recreation

spaces shaded by the surrounding trees that give a feeling of a “tree house”.

The design is the product of careful analysis of the needs of faculty and students in academic

buildings and on a university campus.

Classrooms are indeed a dominant space in learning centers, but we have found that informal

encounters and the creation of spaces that enable them are no less important and should be

included in planning considerations.

The building usage varies throughout the day and enables full actualization of learning and social

experiences on a university campus.

Client:          Tel Aviv University

Location:     Tel Aviv University

Area:            1022 Square meters