Weinstein Vaadia Architects

Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory

Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
© Amir Balaban

GUTMAN VISITOR CENTER AT THE JERUSALEM BIRD OBSERVATORY

Weinstein Vaadia Architects

AREA
120.0 m2

PHOTOGRAPHS
Amir Balaban

PROJECT YEAR 
2010

LOCATION
Israel

CATEGORY
Visitor Center

Text description provided by architect.

When the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel asked us to propose an addition to the Jerusalem Bird Observatory, we saw it as an opportunity to test the concept of urban nature "by design."

Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
© Amir Balaban
Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
© Amir Balaban

Having collaborated with the client since the first phase in 1998, and through subsequent work on projects of the type that has been dubbed "Green Architecture," we were curious about the extent to which a building could blur boundaries between urban "civilization" and its natural host. Was there not an inherent hostility between a building intervention and its environment?

Our approach to this dilemma was shaped by the educational mission of the Jerusalem Bird Observatory, which identifies the function of urban built form as ecological infrastructure. We thus tried to conceive of our role as facilitators of urban nature, rather than as its designers.

Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
© Amir Balaban
Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
© Amir Balaban

To that end, we emphasized the building's performative potential, and assembled all the building elements that we could think of that might operate ecologically. The building is an aggregation of these elements, including: Site. The addition is built within the perimeter of an existing shed, and conserves its original wall structure.

BUILDING SYSTEMS

Living Roof: A green roof system hosts a diversity of wild flowers, weeds, and vegetation, as well as multiple species of insects and crawlers, all of which manifest the life cycle throughout the year.

LIVING WALLS

Both the stone- and plastic-clad walls integrate wood-lined cavities intended for bird-nesting. The wood cases are invisible from the outside, and vary in size in order to accommodate different bird species. The walls also house bats, solitary bees, and lizards.

Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
© Amir Balaban
Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
section

GREYWATER

Greywater is treated in a biological purification pool and is re-used for irrigation.

Programmatically, the addition houses a lecture hall/gallery, offices, and visitors' shop.

Text provided by Weinstein Vaadia Architects.

Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
section


Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
ground floor plan
Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
roof plan
Gutman Visitor Center At The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
elevation

Weinstein Vaadia Architects
T +972 3 5621070 F +972 3 6241216
Weinstein Vaadia Architects
Wilson St 6, Tel Aviv-Yafo, 6522013, Israel