Lauder - Arison Building, IDC
Ada Karmi-Melamede and Dan Price

The Lauder School of Government, Strategy and Diplomacy and the Arison School of Business at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya is located in the south western corner of the Herzliya campus, just south of a grove of eucalyptus trees. The beautiful mature trees line a shallow depression and were originally planted by the British Army (the IDC Campus is located on the site of a disused British airforce base) to dry the soil.

 

We took the opportunity to design the building with a large glass wall open to the north, effectively including the eucalyptus grove within the special experience. The architecture of this façade therefore reflects the spirit of transparency and light , ideas at the heart of the school's philosophy.

 

The round foyer and the lounge on the ground floor offers a space for exhibitions. The buildings include a 250-seat lecture hall, classrooms, the school’s executive offices, a conference room and numerous seminar rooms. The Arison-Lauder Building is home to the two flagship institutes of the IDC Herzliya: the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS) and the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), with both of them holding the most prestigious international conferences in their respective fields.

 

The southern façade is far more conservative. Here a sunken courtyard creates a shaded forum for students to interact informally. The buildings openings are narrow controlled, reflecting the needs of the classrooms within and our respect for the intense Israeli light. While the north façade is almost entirely of glass, the southern façade is articulated in exposed concrete and limestone – materials with a high thermal mass. The building is a metaphor for the school’s spirit – the challenge of balancing local and global cultures.

 

STATUS: Completed
SITE: Herzliya, Israel

SIZE: 4,000 m²

CLIENT: Interdisciplinary Center

Design: Ada Karmi-Melamede and Dan Price

Project architect: Hanan Pomagrin