Home and design
Water from the rock: A Jerusalem stone house with a magical courtyard
The spectacular project in the Malcha neighborhood of Jerusalem was challenging in all respects, one of the difficulties was to carve in the rock, the designed pool that produces the sounds of an escapist vacation elsewhere.
Was it worth the effort?
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architecture
Swimming Pool
Walla!
Home and design
Monday, 04 January 2021, 00:00
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Once upon a time there was a boarding school for girls who repented.
Garden with pool and green wall in Malcha, Jerusalem (Photo: Yehudit Mager)
The project:
Yard and pool design in the Malcha neighborhood of Jerusalem
Planning and architecture:
Architect Ilana
Peresh Pool design and execution:
Pelegim company
"This project was challenging from start to finish," says architect Ilana Peresh.
"Just like 'getting water out of a rock,' in every way," she laughs.
Peresh recounts the house that was for sale for a full 7 years: "Anyone who would enter the lot would take a step and a half in, then turn in and out," she says.
"This is an archaic building typical of Malcha. With stone arches and small windows. The owner rented it and it served as a repentant white boarding school for many years. The spaces were divided and very dark and gloomy, because of the small developers," she says.
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The interior spaces were divided, dark and gloomy.
Now they look like this (Photo: Yehudit Mager)
Preliminary data, apart from "closing" walls and lack of natural light, was a diagonal plot route, tangled vegetation and a neglected yard that served as a home for mosquitoes and other animals.
All of these were soon evacuated, and a retiree, along with her crew, met in very high walls and in a bare space.
"Because the customers asked for a pool and living space, the idea arose to make a vertical garden, and so we 'stretched' green walls and reduced life in the outdoor space immediately," she notes.
The result: a house immersed and wrapped in green.
First challenge on the successful list.
Green walls breathed life into the outer space and enveloped the house in green (Photo: Yehudit Mager)
The second challenge: a large wall, next to the green walls, which was all rock.
Peresh's idea was to leave it as it is, artistic, raw and beautiful, and incorporate a bench at its foot, made of teak wood bars.
"The tree that merges with the rock is for me a song of praise for nature. It was very important to me to sow clues in the house, which will correspond with the outside," says Peresh.
The pergolas are hovering and hanging from iron cables, without touching the ground (Photo: Yehudit Mager)
The main challenge of the project was a solid and strong rock, where the pool was eventually determined.
"It is known that in Jerusalem most of the houses 'sit' on rocky foundations. Since the pool area was never excavated, we discovered that there was hardly any organic soil. Almost everything was rock, and not just, but one of the hardest rocks we encountered," she says.
Avner Tzadok, CEO of Pelegim, a company that offers planning, construction and maintenance services for private and public swimming pools, says that this project has caused him considerable pride. "The pool sits in a closed niche under the street.
"How to make a pool look so spectacular and interesting, and not look like a 'puddle' in a basement, it was a real challenge for me," he says.
The quarrying of the pool in the rocky ground took almost two months (Photo: Yehudit Mager)
"In order to build the pool, we had to saw the rock. It was not possible to bring a tractor, but to saw as they sawed, to segment it and dig the pit needed to install the pool," he explains.
It took them almost two months, but they succeeded in the end.
"We are smiling now, but then we thought the project would not end. It took a long time to carve and the neighbors wanted to 'kill' us," says Peresh.
It was important to interpret, once the pool construction process was completed, that it would be reflected from anywhere in the house.
"Even the master bedroom, the farthest from the top floor, overlooks the pool," she says.
Continuity between inside and outside.
The dining area (Photo: Yehudit Mager)
The pool is reflected from everywhere in the house (Photo: Yehudit Mager)
The design process has become very simple after overcoming all the challenges.
Electric pergolas that can be adjusted according to the angle of the sun ensure a comfortable and pleasant stay in the yard.
The pergolas hover over the seating area, and hang on iron cables.
"The outdoor area is equipped from end to end. From a wine refrigerator, storage refrigerator, ice, grill, and of course a luxury outdoor kitchen," explains Peresh.
An outdoor living room in the style and shades of the home living room brings home warmth to the outside and creates a sense of continuity from within the home.
Next to the pool are sun beds, and on the designed wooden bench - mattresses and textiles selected and designed according to the shades of the pool, blue and green, along with a pink pigment that adds softness and uniqueness.
The mattresses and textiles were chosen to resonate with the shades of the pool (Photo: Yehudit Mager)
There is everything here: grill, bar and wine refrigerators and of course a shower (Photo: Yehudit Mager)
An outdoor shower in the corner of the courtyard allows visitors to bathe and refresh, while on the other side of the courtyard a kitchen has been set up next to a huge bar 5 meters long.
"Equipped as in the movies," adds Peresh.
Above it hangs a pergola and a spacious dining table in a narrow basalt cladding of granite.
The basalt hue also corresponds with the interior tones of the house.
In front of the entrance, large-sized steel tanks were ordered, covered with cortan.
The cortan motif returns to glorify both the facade of the outdoor kitchen and bar.
The voices are reminiscent of a vacation in heaven (Photo: Yehudit Mager)
But there is no doubt that the real highlight, the pool, is the star of the magnificent courtyard.
Its location seems natural and does not reveal the struggle that was abandoned to achieve it.
"Surfing canals, with overflowing water that produces the sounds of a paddling pool, which is a pity you can't hear in the article," Peresh notes.
Peresh admits that when filming the house, none of the production staff could relax from the refined voices reminiscent of a kind of vacation in heaven.
"Everyone, without exception, thought the place represented pure escapism. As if you were in an unfamiliar place, but very calm and relaxing," she sums up the magic secret.
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