Floating Roof House Extends a 76-Meter Screen Toward Calm Gardens
Floating Roof House lands in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a presence equal parts calm and exacting. Pitsou Kedem Architects shape a one-story house around a floating roofline, a geometric mashrabiya, and long planes of concrete and glass. The project reads as a private retreat set within a quiet neighborhood, yet it unfolds as a precise composition of screen, void, and light.
Morning light washes across a wide concrete plane before slipping under the deep overhang. A thin roof hovers above glass and garden, throwing a crisp line of shade.
This is a single-story house in Tel Aviv by Pitsou Kedem Architects, arranged around long horizontal elements and precise geometry. The narrative centers on structure and light: a projecting roof, a 76-meter façade wrapped by a white mashrabiya, and a series of skylights cut into the ceiling.
Lift The Roof
The house is crowned by an overhanging plane that detaches from the enclosing walls, heightening the sense of levitation. Slender supports and extended eaves stretch beyond the envelope, drawing a clean datum over terraces and water. Inside, the ceiling folds in subtle facets that echo the roof’s geometry and sharpen the play of light. The long roofline organizes daily life beneath a single, confident gesture.
Screen And Void
Along the street, a white geometric mashrabiya runs the length of the façade and pairs with a bare concrete wall set just behind it. Between the two, a sunken courtyard brings planting and daylight into the depth of the plan. The sloping concrete causeway slips along this edge and guides the approach with a quiet descent. Privacy is held at the perimeter while air and light filter through the patterned screen.
Light Wells Above
Cut into the central ceiling are 47 skylights in varied sizes and shapes, distributing soft illumination across living rooms and circulation. Their crisp apertures brighten pale textiles and low furnishings, then track across polished concrete as the day turns. At moments the light squares align with the roof facets—an incidental grid that measures time. Clear glass walls open long views to lawn and trees, making the ceiling feel even lighter.
Spa Below Grade
Between the screen and wall, the sunken courtyard pours daylight into a basement spa with an Olympic-size swimming pool. One flank reads as a diagonal aluminum surface that mirrors ripples from the water and extends the geometry set above. Concrete planes, glass, and precise lighting keep the room taut and serene. The result is a bright, reflective lane where structure, water, and light stay in conversation.
Rooms On The Edge
Living areas spread beneath the canopy and hold a measured palette of marble, concrete, and pale fabric. Low sofas sit near full-height glass, while a marble worktable faces the garden for long sightlines. Courtyard terraces step to water and lawn, their slabs cast in wide joints to echo the roof cuts. Everyday rhythms gather around shade, reflection, and controlled glare.
As evening settles, the roof’s razor edge casts a final band of shadow across the water. Light from the skylights softens and the mashrabiya turns lantern-like. The house stays quiet, held together by geometry and the steady pull of the horizontal line.
Photography courtesy of Pitsou Kedem Architects
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