Bonem House

The original building was planned in 1935-1936 as an apartment building, serving as a residence for Dr. and Mrs. Bonem’s family, and as rented accommodation. The artist, architect, and engineer Leopold Krakauer designed the building.

In 1967 the building was sold to Bank Leumi, which was responsible for the conservation work we undertook in 2006-2007. Strict conservation work and sundry programmatic adaptations for use by Bank Leumi helped add renewed value to this canonical building, including in the list of monuments for conservation in Jerusalem.

Our main objective in the project was to restore Krakauer’s design vision. We went through a profound research process in order to understand Krakauer’s conceptualization and material use as expressed in his rural construction in Jerusalem, according to the paintings and plans we found.

Back then, there weren’t many examples of conservation work, not in Jerusalem nor Tel- Aviv, and specifically, no conservation works that used combed plater as a main coating material. We had to find the right craftsmen and materials to replicate the original notion closely. The work at the time included the renovation of the front and openings, restoration of building details, renovation of the unique plasterwork, restoration of the terraced walls surrounding the building, and conversion of the inner patio as an entrance and display area open to natural light.