Youth Hostel - Old Acre

The hostel is the first new structure built in Acre's Old City and designed by RAHAMIMOFF Architects.


The building was planned from reinforced concrete with a limestone façade that matches the architecture that characterizes the Old City. It is located at the entrance, near the Old City walls. The building was built upon archeological ruins from the crusader period that was discovered during the excavation in the site.

The building has 8,000 square meters of interior space, and sits on a five dunam property. The hostel contains guest rooms, class rooms, a dining room, patios, etc.

Due to the archeological findings, the underground parking lot was cancelled, and a system of bearing walls and beams that rest on deep piles was planned.

The location of the piles was precisely chosen by the Israel Antiquities Authority to minimize damage to the uncovered ruins. The foundation piles were narrowed to the required minimum, and used as columns rising five meters above ground, in order to allow future digging on the site and access to visitors of the findings that will be uncovered beneath the building.

The total area of the piles makes up only 2.7% of the area of the planned project.