Ester Tower in Jerusalem, Israel

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Timber Lookout Tower

All timber, steel, and membrane elements were prefabricated in the Czech Republic and then loaded into two containers with a length of 12 m (37 ft) each. All components were manufactured to a high quality, both manually and using CNC technology. This quality standard was an essential prerequisite for the successful and quick assembly in Israel.

All the prefabricated components were assembled in a horizontal position, including the spiral stairway inside the wooden supporting cuboid.

Structure

The tower is anchored to the reinforced concrete foundation slab supported by four piles, each with a diameter of 35 cm (14 in) and a length of 7 m (23 ft), bored mainly in rocky subsoil. The lookout tower consists of two main mutually acting structural systems. The load-bearing main core with a height of 12 m (39.4 ft) is formed by four load-bearing main timber columns (28×28 cm / 11×11 in – GL28h), which are set up at a center distance of 2.3 m (7.5 ft).

The basic framework is followed by the second structural system, forming the external shape of the tower. The cactus shape is achieved with an octagonal prism. All structural components are designed in a way so that it is possible to replace them with a new component at any time.

Above the viewing platform, the facade structure ends with a dome with a central steel ring gathering eight steel beams. The roof structure is designed in combination with the hot-dipped galvanized steel supporting frame and a special membrane made of ETFE foil. The designers have excellent experience with these membranes from the project of the “Gulliver” airship for the Center for Contemporary Art in Prague.

The Czech-Israeli project by architect Martin Rajniš in the magical city of Jerusalem can serve as a symbolic expression of the traditionally good relations between the two countries.