{"id":254099,"date":"2025-10-31T21:59:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T21:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/254099\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T21:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T21:59:13","slug":"an-architect-on-reserve-duty-in-khan-younis-designed-a-chefs-home-from-the-battlefie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/254099\/","title":{"rendered":"An architect on reserve duty in Khan Younis designed a chef\u2019s home from the battlefie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Construction of the chef\u2019s new home in a moshav in Emek Hefer began just over six months before October 7. \u201cWhen the war broke out, the frame of the house was ready, and we were at the stage of marking plumbing and electrical work,\u201d says Ron Shenkin, owner of the architecture and design studio responsible for the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike everyone, we went through a few days of total shock,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThen I was called up for reserve duty, and I disappeared from the office for three months. Work on site nearly stopped. The project supervisor, Omer Nahum, worked incredibly hard to find available workers\u2014some contractors didn\u2019t receive entry permits to Israel, while others were also called up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Slowly, the project came back to life. \u201cIt was the same in the entire construction industry,\u201d says Shinkin. \u201cThe architect from my office, Doron Ben-David, managed the project on the ground, overseeing design choices and construction. The homeowners were patient, supportive, and incredibly understanding. They would sometimes send me photos from the site so I could give input on color choices while sitting in my army jeep in Khan Younis.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the work was finally done, the chef\u2014who asked to remain anonymous\u2014cooked a memorable dinner for the team to mark the home\u2019s completion.<\/p>\n

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The 800-square-meter plot belongs to the homeowner\u2019s family, near where he grew up. For years, he and his wife, parents of two, dreamed of building there and saved until they could afford a 209-square-meter house that, as Shinkin says, \u201clooks like it was built on a large budget\u2014but it wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

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To the west, the property faces open fields. \u201cThe view and fresh air left me no choice but to orient the house westward,\u201d says Shinkin. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenging direction that required extensive shading solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

A paved path leads to the entrance, ending in a covered outdoor foyer shaded by a pergola. There, a shoe cabinet was built flush with the exterior wall. \u201cWe placed the shoe cabinet outside, under the pergola for rain protection, and across from a bench for putting on shoes,\u201d Shinkin explains. \u201cThe family has an unbelievable number of shoes\u2014they mentioned it often during our planning meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The front door opens directly to a large glass wall facing a patio with an oak tree, giving the impression of stepping outdoors again as soon as you enter. Pale 120-by-120 cm tiles extend from the exterior foyer throughout the house, including the bathrooms and patio, strengthening the connection between indoors and outdoors.<\/p>\n

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The house is divided into three rectangular sections, each serving a different function, connected by a wide hallway open to the surrounding garden. The right wing contains the main living space, which opens to the front yard through a floor-to-ceiling glass fa\u00e7ade over 12 meters long.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted the most minimal glass possible, but still within a reasonable budget,\u201d Shinkin says. \u201cWe worked with the Israeli company Kochav Aluminum, which provided hidden tracks and retractable screens that disappear into the walls\u2014important, since the family has cats that would have ruined fixed screens quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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To the right sits the kitchen, L-shaped with a central island. Above the counter runs a long window that lets in light and a view of the front door. The window is interrupted by an extra-large custom exhaust hood designed by a metal craftsman who usually builds restaurant ventilation systems.<\/p>\n

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Six people can sit around the island, where most family meals take place. Three custom pendant lamps hang above it, designed in collaboration with lighting designer Eran Klein, who also created the home\u2019s recessed fixtures. The ceiling, made of warm-toned wood, extends from the pergola outdoors to maintain continuity while preserving the homeowner\u2019s request for a light, uncluttered palette.<\/p>\n

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Facing the kitchen is a bright living room with a large L-shaped sofa custom-built for maximum seating and comfort. The coffee tables echo the kitchen\u2019s marble and are supported by black steel legs. The television, mounted on a movable arm in the corner, can be tucked aside to keep the view unobstructed.<\/p>\n

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Outside, the patio continues the interior\u2019s clean lines with an outdoor living area, a large oak dining table custom-made by a carpenter and metalworker, and a professional-grade outdoor kitchen built in two sections\u2014one for cooking and grilling, the other for entertaining. A raw concrete wall provides privacy from the entrance path, while a long swimming pool runs perpendicular to the house, leaving room for a lawn. \u201cThis placement also creates a beautiful reflection of the house,\u201d says Shinkin.<\/p>\n

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To the left of the entrance, a wide hallway leads to another patio planted with a pomegranate tree. \u201cWe selected the trees very early in the process,\u201d Shinkin notes.<\/p>\n

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Parents bedroom <\/p>\n

(Photo: Amit Gosher)<\/p>\n

Beyond it, two rectangular wings make up the rest of the house. The children\u2019s section includes two suites\u2014one for a 15-year-old boy and one for a 12-year-old girl\u2014each with a private bathroom and balcony.<\/p>\n

The parents\u2019 wing, on the opposite side, includes a guest bathroom, laundry room, and the master suite. The couple\u2019s bedroom features a custom-designed bed with a curved dark-wood headboard matching the ceiling and built-in wardrobe. Their spacious en suite bathroom was one of the homeowner\u2019s key requests.<\/p>\n

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Next to it, the safe room (mamad) also serves as a walk-in closet. \u201cThat\u2019s something worth reconsidering after October 7,\u201d says Shinkin. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s better to keep less storage there and leave more space for safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

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One of the kid’s room <\/p>\n

(Photo: Amit Gosher)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Construction of the chef\u2019s new home in a moshav in Emek Hefer began just over six months before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":{"0":"post-254099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}