Located within the dense urban fabric of Tel Aviv, this school courtyard is designed for children on the autism spectrum. Against the backdrop of an intensified metropolis, the project reinterprets core principles of greenery, airflow, and human-scale space within a confined site.

The courtyard is conceived as an “enclosed garden” – a space that is both bounded and open, offering a meaningful encounter with nature. This typology allows for a balance between protection and exposure, creating an environment that is sensorially rich while remaining calm and legible for its users.

The design is based on a sequence of “outdoor rooms” – distinct yet interconnected spaces defined by vegetation, walls, and built elements. These rooms provide a range of spatial conditions that support play, learning, retreat, and observation. Transitions between them are carefully graded, moving from more open areas to increasingly intimate and sheltered zones, enabling sensory regulation and spatial orientation.

Existing mature trees play a central role in organizing the layout, anchoring the design in the site’s urban ecology. In addition, a therapeutic greenhouse is integrated into the courtyard, allowing children to actively participate in shaping and maintaining the garden over time, reinforcing a sense of engagement, responsibility, and growth.

A key element in the project is a spatially adaptive wall that defines and encloses the courtyard while functioning as an active interface. Rather than acting as a static boundary, the wall incorporates openings, textures, and colors, and integrates opportunities for play, seating, and interaction. It mediates between enclosure and openness, offering both security and connection.

The courtyard is framed by three facades of the school building and revealed through interior corridors. Two bridges span the space, clad in blue perforated metal, introducing an additional spatial layer. Moving across them enhances the experience of being outdoors by providing elevated views toward the courtyard and surrounding trees, while strengthening the relationship between interior and exterior.

Client: Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality
Team at Berabim Landscape Architecture: Amir Sherman, Tamar Shoshan, Tom Bloch, Uria Goldshtein, and Dana Avraham.
Photo credit: Nimrod Levy
Collaborators: Neuman Hayner Architects

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