Raphael Hospital

The site was formerly occupied by an office building constructed in the ’80s. Today, one of Tel Aviv’s best-known neighbourhoods in the north-east is home to the private San Raphael Hospital, which boasts state-of-the-art services, outstanding medical care and luxurious hospitality. To create the project, the entire structure was dismantled, including the façades, leaving only the building’s “skeleton” and redesigning everything with the inclusion of the most advanced technologies for the reception, operating rooms and common areas.

The main goal of the Arie Shauer Architects firm was to make the hospital as similar as possible to a hotel, in order to ensure maximum comfort for patients through a suitable and humanized hospital environment. This is partly why the architects made extensive use of natural materials and very aesthetically appealing solutions that balance out the sterile medical procedures.

With the indoor flooring, Lea Ceramiche has further increased this building’s performance level. The Waterfall collection, chosen by the firm, fully satisfied the need for high-level ceramic surfaces, in terms of both technical and aesthetic performance. Hygiene and safety first and foremost, essential requirements in a hospital. Waterfall, in fact, is part of the Protect® series: tiles with an integrated antibacterial shield that is 99.9% effective against bacteria, 24 hours a day, in all light conditions. Porcelain stoneware surfaces are also a perfect material that does not warp and that is resistant to wear and the most aggressive chemical detergents.

And that is not all. Waterfall also proved to be perfect from an aesthetic standpoint. With its grey shades ranging from the darker Dark Flow to the lighter Ivory Flow, the collection realistically reproduces ancient slate. The hospital’s ceramic floors, therefore, look sophisticated and reflect the iridescent effects typical of sedimentary rock, featuring irregularities and colour variations that replicate the passage of time. These effects make the floors dynamic and embellish the hospital rooms.