Teva, Copaxon Factory, Ramat Hovav
Ada Karmi-Melamede and Dan Price

The Teva Copaxon factory is a chemical industrial production plant. The chemical processes are meticulously defined and automated with limited human involvement except for the control room and clean rooms used for packaging and quality control.

 

The architectural challenge was to design the building which could give visual coherence to an extraordinarily complex process. Furthermore, the building had to be constructed as the piping and equipment for production were being installed. The building therefore establishes a formal and structural framework within which the engineers could assemble their equipment without delay. This began with a process of rationalizing the design, first of the pipe bridges and then of the manufacturing process itself.

 

The production of the medication has three phases which found expression in the buildings form. All the construction materials needed meet exacting standards to withstand the extreme heat and corrosive environment of Ramat Hovav. The concrete superstructure is clad in high fired ceramic tile, all mounted on coated aluminium struts. All exposed metal is stainless steel including the woven wire mesh used to enclose all spaces which are not environmentally controlled.

 

STATUS: Completed

SITE: Ramat Hovav, Israel

SIZE: 2500 m²

CLIENT: Teva Corporation

Design: Ada Karmi-Melamede and Dan Price

Project architect: Yasmin Avisar