Solel Boneh House Haifa
With the establishment of the State of Israel, Solel Boneh Company sought to consolidate its offices, which had been scattered throughout Haifa, under one roof. To this end, a plot was selected at the intersection of Khuri and Nevi'im Streets in the Hadar neighbourhood, near the city's administrative centre at that time, and architect Shmuel Rozov was commissioned to design the building.
Rozov designed a building comprising two adjoining wings: one rising to seven storeys and completed in 1953, and the other rising to 11 storeys and completed in 1958. Upon its completion, it was Israel's tallest building, and the subsequent construction of the nearby Nevi'im Tower, many years later, failed to overshadow it—it remained the tallest in the area.
The entire building is clad in stone slabs quarried by the Solel Boneh subsidiary Stone and Lime Company, whose offices also occupied the building. At the top of the tower, stone slabs from several quarries were incorporated, in different hues, together forming the initials of the company name. A restaurant for employees operated on the ground floor.
01Two Wings, Two Decades
A building that was at the time Israel's tallest, and remains today a landmark on the Hadar skyline.
02Places of Art and Memory
In 1969, the colonnade storey at the base of the seven-storey wing was sealed, and in the sealed façade was integrated an artistic wall by artist Gershon Knispel that reflected the company's capabilities, completed in 1971. Another relief by Knispel stands near the entrance facing Khuri Street, alongside a memorial plaque for the Haganah operations that led to Haifa's liberation in the War of Independence.
In the 1990s, with the company's decline and sale to private parties, the building was sold. Today it serves both public and private organisations, with an architectural office located at the top of the tower.