Van Leer Institute

The competition's task was to prepare a master plan for the future growth of the existing campus and design the Polonsky Academy as the first new building. 
The proposed solution takes into account the necessity to enlarge the existing campus such that it will allow future development while preserving its magic, its isolation from ever-present urban noise, its peaceful greenery that encourages thinking –creating a "green lung" in the city centre.
Our strategy was to make use of the natural topography that is to say to establish the space-demanding functions to be partially underground. With minimal effort, the sloping ground, opening into green spaces, can be utilized for big–crowd exterior events such as receptions, social encounters, and as a source of inspiration.
Equally important is that careful consideration of the topography makes it possible to add extensive areas for buildings on campus that remain non-obtrusive, as if "planted" in nature, and that do not stand out from the existing skyline.
The Polonsky Academy gets a central location as a campus hub.
As a direct consequence of its central location, campus passages have to traverse the building, in particular from the entrance square in the North to the lower-lying Southern part of the campus.
The structure of the library and the central space form a natural ventilation core; Hot air ascends and is released in summer, allowing cooler air to enter, whereas in winter the hot air is mechanically directed downward thus naturally heating the building.
Natural filtered light will enter all inner parts of the building and the library through the screened louvered skylight of the building.
The envelope creates shade by incorporating horizontal stone louvers which filter natural light while permitting maximal transparency and exposure to the view; they allow a complex external-internal relationship while preserving privacy in the researchers' rooms.
The stone louvers in the outer envelope of the building protect the internal envelope and allow it to be completely transparent.
In Jerusalem, building laws demand that a high percentage of the outer envelope be made of stone. This innovative interpretation of employing stone louvers gives an impression of a monolithic stone structure, while in fact, the building is transparent and airy.