Client: Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund
Landscape Architecture:Berabim Landscape Architecture 
Design Team: Yael Bar Maor, Tom Bloch
Year:  2018

The renovation of a public building was the catalytic element for reviving the urban public space that surrounded it. The public building was turned into an educational center under the name: “KKL-JNF House for Excellence”. The surrounding public space, in the form of an old pine grove in the center of the city, is a potential meeting point for groups and individuals of various ages and different backgrounds. The landscape design aimed to fulfill this potential by eliminating the boundary between the plot of the building and the grove, and introducing functions that promote spontaneous interactions. The design used characteristics of the local forest recreation culture, but adapted it to the urban settings and used them as a stage for everyday urban life.