Housing Project at the Weizmann Institute of Science

Here is a short report of the meeting the ``vaadat bnia'' had with the architects.

Wednesday, July 14

Present: Niki (architect), Yonathan and Shmulik ("Inspectors" for the project), Dan Yakir, Kadia Moses, Daniel Zajfman.

  1. There was a round table discussion about the ``architectural freedom'' of the different houses. The main part that the different houses have to keep is the front design, and the contour. Any changes of these two will need a serious explanation (to Niki) why the plan cannot be made with the same front and contour. It was agreed that there is a general freedom about the internal design of the houses.
  2. Hazer Meshek: On some of the plans (from the Michal's) the Hazer Meshek has been partially integrated into the houses. Niki agreed that this cannot be prevented in the long-run as long as (1) The height stays at 2.40 m, (2) It is not intended to integrate the Hazer Meshek as a new "room'', but rather as the extension of dining room, or kitchen (and in the case of kitchen no special installations are moved there) (3) This approach is informal. All plans must be submitted with the Hazer Meshek in the original form, separated from the house with a wall ("kir-geves" is ok), and will remain so until the building is finished, has been inspected by the authorities and was signed off by our Inspector.
  3. The height of the basement is unclear at this point. Niki and/or Yonathan will check with the city hall to get the rules. It could be that the maximum height is only 2.2 m. Note also that the basement covered by the "safety net" is 40 m2, and that Yonathan estimates the cost of a square meter basements to be very close to that for the rest of the house (both of which are not known yet, but see below).
  4. Some detail of the Miphrat were discussed. The most recent one on the Web is the result of many previous discussions and is very close to what we asked for as the base-level for our houses. It represents a fairly high-but not excessive-standard, and was checked for us by a few independent t experts. There are only a few outstanding issues that still need to be discussed with the Machon. These include:
    1. Possible inclusion of Pergola (not in the Miphrat, even-though it appears in some of the plans);
    2. Area of terrace floor outside the living- and the dining rooms (to increase the total to 30 m2);
    3. Quality of terrace floor (up from the most simple "even mishtalevet", but not all the way to extension of the house-floor (which will cost 150$/m2 only for the support);
    4. Cost of kitchen and the relative sizes in the Had/Du houses.
    5. Air-conditioning: This will be carried out by a separate specialist. A few specialists will be contacted in due course and they will provide advise on localization of the different units and optimization of the system in each house.
  5. Electricity: the upgrade in the Miphrat from 3x25 Amp to 3 x 40 amp was finalized. The estimated cost is NIS 6000 per house and will provide extra safety and convenience in operating all the possible electric appliances in the house.
  6. Based on discussion of the overall schedule with the Inspectors it seems we are already causing some delays by not finishing the 1:100 floor plans with the architects. This is because, Yonathan et al would like already to begin analyzing the various plans and get started on preparing the construction "Michrazim" and how to handle all the changes made on the original types. Soon we will cause delays on other fronts too. Niki pointed out that there are about 12 plans which are finished, and he knows of 16 which are very close to be finished. *We propose to speed up the submission of the 1:100 plans and complete them by the end of this month. Note that there will be a period of, probably, a few months during which last minute changes will still be possible.
  7. The construction process has been discussed. This is an outline of how things will (probably) proceed, although we still need to clarify many points:
    1. The tenants have to finish ASAP the plans at the scale 1/100.
    2. Niki will approve the plans, and these will be drawn "for construction'' at a scale of 1/50.
    3. The 1/50 plans will be given to the Inspectors (Yonathan and Shmulik) which will first use it for preparation of the "Michrazim" and second, will sit down with every family and adjust the plan and Miphrat to each specific house (Gold in the bathroom and Venetian windows etc. can be added here, at a cost).
    4. In parallel, the plans will be given to electricians, plumber etc.. and returned with their proposals allowing tenants to make adjustments (the extra light switch inside the bar can be added here, at a cost).
    5. Once everybody agree on the plans, a final and detail "Miphrat'' will be written for each house. Based on the plans, this Miphrat, and "ktav kamuyot'' the price of the house will be finalized with the Kablan (see below).
  8. Construction price: A first discussion was made as to how the prices of the houses will be set. There are two prices: One is the "Safety Net'' from the Institute, and the other one is the real price per each family (including all the changes made in the final plans). For the reshet Bitakhon, the price will be set based on the ``mifrat makhon'' (the one on the Web, after the final changes) and one of the "typical houses" that will be selected by Niki. The actual prices of the individual houses will proposed by the Kablan according to a specific "Menu" of changes that will be constructed by Yonathan et al based on analysis of all the final plans. (That is, the Kablan will have to justify any change in price over the base price according to some rules that Yonathan et al will negotiate.)
  9. Still on the price side: it was roughly (very) estimated that at the level of the current Miphrat (Miphrat Machon) and at current market prices construction cost should be around 800-900 USD /square meter (including vat). [Note that Yonathan et al will attempt to group as many houses as possible in one "Family" (possibly with a few subgroups), and very extreme cases that can cause a price increase for the whole "Family" will be treated separately. This will be an important factor in obtaining good construction prices.]

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