Composite Roof – Yitzhak Rabin Center

The Yitzhak Rabin Center is a library and research center in Tel Aviv, Israel, built in memory of the assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. It is located on a hill with a beautiful panoramic view of Tel Aviv and Hayarkon Park.

Yitzhak Rabin was seen as a peacemaker during his life, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. To honour him, the main client ‘Friends of Yitzhak Rabin’ asked the renowned Israeli/Canadian architect Moshe Safdie to design the Rabin Centre. The composite roofs on both ends of the building symbolise doves of peace.

The centre houses various disciplines: a museum about Rabin’s life, an army museum, auditorium, research centre, library/archive and a large hall for multifunctional use. The large hall and the library are covered by undulating curved shell roofs, which create shadows over the glass facades and reflect diffuse light inside.

Due to the large dimensions and the special shape of the roof shells, their production required a great deal of specific knowledge and skills. For example, the production techniques for the composite elements are based on the standard production methods for sailing ship hulls. Holland Composites has extensive experience in (composite) shipbuilding, plus the right knowledge, craftsmanship and tooling in-house, which meant that this special assignment was in good hands with us.

The wing roofs consist of a curved construction of multiple complex roof shells, varying in thickness from 200 to 300 mm. The total roof consists of 75 unique elements that were glued and finished on site. These self-supporting sandwich wing roofs have a maximum span of 31 meters, with one of the points overhanging 9 meters freely.

The segments were assembled upside down and provided with prefabricated reinforced strips. They were then checked again for correct dimensions, finished and reinforced with a mesh and filler. The bottom was given a fire-resistant layer and the top an infrared-resistant layer. As a final step, the shells were turned over and finished evenly on all sides.

Holland Composites produced these roofs in the Netherlands and delivered them locally after shipping. The total surface area of ​​self-supporting and double curved roof is 4640 m². Due to the size of the roof shells and the long distance they had to travel from the Netherlands to Israel, the various roof parts were shipped in two large crates of 3.5 m x 3.5 m x 15 m.

Logistically, these were designed in such a way that as many elements as possible fit in. The transport took place in 5 parts via regular freight transport by ship to the port of Ash Dod in Israel. From there, the transport continued by truck to the construction site in the city of Tel Aviv.

After hoisting the wings onto the library, the first shell was positioned on a flat steel truss resting on a concrete wall. The structural glass facades were built separately from the roofs. After placing the wings, the glass walls were connected to the irregular lines of the roofs. The construction begins as a structural roof construction and ends in a far-protruding and freely suspended facade.

The Yitzhak Rabin Center was completed in 2005, exactly 10 years after the assassination and death of the prime minister. The technical development, engineering and construction were achieved with many different parties, such as Octatube, the makers of complex architectural structures who also designed the ronde Fletcher hotel along the A2 motorway.

The final result of the design is a combination of structural components that make a strong architectural statement and that unites aviation, shipbuilding, industrial design and surveying. The building is therefore an example of various innovations in (construction) technology.