Israel Services & Professionals Architects

The 10 Best Architects in Israel (2026)

Updated August 2026 · 10 picks

The best architects in Israel in 2026 are Kimmel Eshkolot and Moshe Safdie Architects for major public work, Pitsou Kedem for private houses, and Bar Orian for the restoration of historic Tel Aviv. Israeli practice divides fairly cleanly between public and institutional work, high-end residential, and conservation — few studios are strong at all three. Ten, below.

1. Kimmel Eshkolot Architects — Tel Aviv, working nationwide

Award-winning practice behind many of Israel's most significant public buildings.

Specialty Public and cultural buildings, urban design, residentialLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Public bodies, institutions, developers

Kimmel Eshkolot was founded in Tel Aviv in 1986 by Etan Kimmel and Michal Kimmel-Eshkolot, and has won a series of national competitions for high-profile public projects — among them the expansion of the government compound in Jerusalem, the Davidson Museum near the Western Wall, and the memorial centre at Mount Herzl.

The practice works across urban design, public buildings, residential and interiors, and it is one of the few Israeli offices with a genuinely international profile. It is the kind of firm you approach for a project with a civic dimension rather than a private apartment.

Good to know: Competition-winning practices are geared to large projects — expect a matching timetable and process.

Google Maps Website

2. Moshe Safdie Architects — Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, working internationally

A global practice with an Israeli office and some of the country's landmark buildings.

Specialty Cultural and civic buildings, transport, masterplanningLanguages English · HebrewBest for Institutions, public bodies, large-scale developers

Moshe Safdie's practice maintains an office in Tel Aviv on Nahalat Binyamin alongside its international studios, and in Israel it is best known for Yad Vashem's Holocaust History Museum and Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion Airport.

This is a large-project office: cultural institutions, transport infrastructure and masterplanning rather than private residential. Its presence in the city is one of the reasons Tel Aviv punches above its weight in international architecture.

Good to know: Not a private-house practice — look here for institutional and civic projects.

Google Maps Website

3. Pitsou Kedem Architects — Tel Aviv

The most published Israeli studio for private houses and high-end residential.

Specialty Private houses, high-end residential, interiors, restaurantsLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Private clients, high-end residential, hospitality

Founded in 2000, Pitsou Kedem Architects has spent two decades building a portfolio of private houses, apartments and commercial spaces, mostly in Israel and increasingly abroad.

The work is defined by geometric clarity, restraint and a careful handling of light and material, and the studio takes architecture and interior design as one commission. For a private house or a substantial apartment reworking, it is among the strongest options in the city.

Good to know: Best suited to clients who want a strong architectural position rather than a neutral one.

Google Maps Website

4. Bar Orian Architects — Balfour Street, Tel Aviv

The practice most identified with the architectural renewal of old Tel Aviv.

Specialty Preservation and adaptive reuse, high-rise, urban planningLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Developers, preservation projects, institutional clients

Bar Orian Architects was established by Tal and Gidi Bar Orian in 1990 and first made its name in preservation, developing an approach to additions and extensions of historic structures that drew international attention.

It is credited as the main creative force behind the architectural reinvention of the old city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, and today works across a much wider range including high-rises and infrastructure, with in-house design, construction, engineering and urban planning capability.

Good to know: The obvious first call for a listed or preserved building in the White City.

Google Maps Website

5. Chyutin Architects — Tel Aviv, with Jerusalem work

Long-established practice known for public and cultural buildings in context.

Specialty Public, cultural and academic buildingsLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Universities, cultural institutions, public bodies

Chyutin Architects was founded in 1978 by Bracha and Michael Chyutin and is among the most established names in Israeli architecture, recognised for public and cultural buildings that respond to their historical and geographical setting.

It remains one of the practices most frequently cited when Israeli architecture is discussed seriously, with a portfolio weighted towards institutional, academic and cultural work rather than commercial development.

Good to know: Strong choice where a building has to sit convincingly in a historically loaded site.

Google Maps Website

6. Mochly-Eldar Architects — Tel Aviv

One of the country's largest practices, covering architecture, landscape and planning.

Specialty Architecture, landscape architecture and urban planningLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Developers, municipalities, institutional clients

Established in 1972, Mochly-Eldar is one of Israel's leading architectural firms, offering architecture, landscape design and urban planning as a combined service.

The breadth is the point: for a large mixed-use or campus project, having landscape and planning in the same office removes a whole layer of coordination. It is a firm built for scale rather than for a single apartment.

Good to know: Worth considering when the site work matters as much as the building.

Google Maps Website

7. HQ Architects — Tel Aviv

A younger Tel Aviv practice known for inventive public space projects.

Specialty Urban design, public space, architectureLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Municipalities, developers, cultural clients

HQ Architects is a Tel Aviv-based studio working across architecture and urban design, and it built its reputation on public space interventions that are unusually playful for the Israeli market.

The office takes on buildings as well, but the public-realm work is what distinguishes it — a useful profile for clients who want the space around a project to be treated as seriously as the building itself.

Good to know: Good fit where the brief includes a plaza, courtyard or streetscape rather than only a building.

Google Maps Website

8. Kolker Kolker Epstein Architects — Jerusalem

A long-established Jerusalem practice with a large body of built work in the city.

Specialty Public, institutional and residential architecture in JerusalemLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Institutions, developers, public bodies

Kolker Kolker Epstein is among the practices most associated with contemporary building in Jerusalem, with a portfolio spanning public, institutional and residential projects.

The advantage of a firm that has built repeatedly in the city is procedural as much as architectural: it knows the planning committees, the stone contractors and the way a Jerusalem permit actually moves. For a project of any scale in the city, that is worth as much as the design.

Good to know: Ask which Jerusalem planning committees the practice has appeared before recently.

Google Maps Website

9. SO Architecture — Jerusalem

One of the most interesting younger Israeli practices, with Jerusalem-area work.

Specialty Public, cultural and residential architectureLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Public clients, cultural projects, private commissions

SO Architecture is among the most notable of the newer generation of Israeli practices, working across public, cultural and residential projects.

Younger offices tend to be hungrier and more inventive on constrained sites, which is a useful quality in and around Jerusalem. Worth considering for a project where you would rather not receive the safe, expected answer.

Good to know: Ask about capacity and timetable — smaller practices are more affected by workload.

Google Maps Website

10. Ilan Pivko Architects — Tel Aviv

A long-running Tel Aviv office with a substantial residential and hotel portfolio.

Specialty Residential buildings, hotels, private housesLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Developers, hotel operators, private clients

Ilan Pivko's practice has been a fixture of the Tel Aviv scene for decades, with a body of work spanning residential buildings, hotels, public projects and private houses.

It is one of the offices whose buildings you have probably walked past without noting the name — a large, steadily productive practice rather than a competition-driven one. That makes it a practical choice for developer-side residential work.

Good to know: Ask to visit a completed residential building rather than only reviewing renders.

Google Maps Website

Frequently asked questions

How do you choose an architect in Israel?

Start from the building type. A practice with a shelf of civic and cultural buildings will not necessarily be the right choice for a private house, and the studios that publish beautiful houses may not want a school. Ask to see three completed projects of the same type and, more usefully, to speak to those clients.

What do architects charge in Israel?

Full service — concept through construction supervision — is conventionally around 8%–15% of construction cost, scaling down as the project gets larger. Many practices will quote a fixed fee for the design stages and an hourly or percentage rate for supervision. Permit-only work is priced separately and much lower.

Do you need an architect for a renovation in Israel?

For anything that moves a wall, changes the façade, adds to the building envelope or touches a listed structure, yes — and you will need a licensed architect or engineer to sign the permit drawings for the local va'ada. For an internal refit that does not touch structure, an interior designer is usually the better and cheaper appointment.

What is Tama 38 and does it need an architect?

Tama 38 and its successor tracks are the national schemes for seismic strengthening and redevelopment of older buildings, usually by adding floors in exchange for the works. They are architecturally and legally complex, and the developer's architect represents the developer — residents' committees regularly appoint their own.

Which Israeli architects work in English?

Most of the practices on this list, and all of the ones with international portfolios. Construction on site, however, runs in Hebrew, which is one of the strongest arguments for appointing an architect who will also supervise rather than handing drawings to a contractor and hoping.

Who designed Israel's best-known modern buildings?

Moshe Safdie is behind Yad Vashem's Holocaust History Museum and Ben Gurion Airport's Terminal 3, among much else. Kimmel Eshkolot's work includes major public and memorial projects across the country. Bar Orian is the practice most associated with the conservation and adaptation of the Bauhaus-era White City in Tel Aviv.

1. Kimmel Eshkolot Architects — Tel Aviv, working nationwide

2. Moshe Safdie Architects — Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, working internationally

3. Pitsou Kedem Architects — Tel Aviv

4. Bar Orian Architects — Balfour Street, Tel Aviv

5. Chyutin Architects — Tel Aviv, with Jerusalem work

6. Mochly-Eldar Architects — Tel Aviv

7. HQ Architects — Tel Aviv

8. Kolker Kolker Epstein Architects — Jerusalem

9. SO Architecture — Jerusalem

10. Ilan Pivko Architects — Tel Aviv

Frequently asked questions

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