Crowning Glory

A contrasting addition transformed a heritage villa in Tel Aviv into ultra-chic contemporary accommodation.

- Carli Philips

A city of contrasts, Tel Aviv’s streetscape is a complex tapestry of architecture and design in flux with peeling structures, Bauhaus gems and scaffolded sites in the throes of restoration. Some, like this UNESCO-protected 1913 villa in the city’s charming old neighbourhood of Neveh Tzedek, have been undergoing renovations for nearly a decade. Specialist architects Bar Orian opted not to enmesh the old with the new, instead highlighting the renovation with an overtly modern juxtaposition layered on top of the period building. Indeed, crane your neck, and up top rests a surprising detached floor and glass-wrapped recessed addition with a steel-encased rooftop penthouse.

Structurally, the rear was ballooned to make way for spacious suites and outdoor balconies with Paola Lenti furniture. Originally a two-storey home, The Levee’s classic whiteshuttered facade has taken 10 years to restore, with Bar Orian adhering to the city’s strict preservation guidelines to uphold its original 1920s neoclassical eclectic-style exterior. But now, doors off its central tiled hallways boast eight individual apartments expertly conceived by interior architect Yael Siso.