| Shalom Meir Tower | |
|---|---|
| מגדל שלום מאיר | |
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | Government, Commercial, Residential |
| Location | Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Coordinates | |
| Construction started | 1963 |
| Opening | 1965 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 120 to 130 m (390 to 430 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 34 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Yitzhak Pearlstein, Gideon Ziv, Meir Levy |
Shalom Meir Tower (Hebrew: מגדל שלום מאיר, Migdal Shalom Meir; commonly shortened to Migdal Shalom, Hebrew: מגדל שלום) is an office tower in Tel Aviv which contains a small commercial center. The Shalom Mayer Tower was the first tall tower to be built in Israel. When its construction was completed in 1965, it rivaled the tallest buildings in Europe in height, and was the tallest in the Middle East.
The tower has 34 floors and stands at a height of 120[1]–130 m.[2] In its design, space under the tower was set aside for a future subway station. However, a subway has yet to be constructed in Tel Aviv and with the tower's importance being eclipsed by newer and taller structures in the city, even the Tel Aviv Light Rail lines now planned are not expected to pass under the tower.
The tower is located on the site of the Herzliya Hebrew High School. The school's architecturally and historically significant structure was razed and the school relocated in order to build the tower in 1962. This decision was later widely regretted despite the many benefits that the tower brought over the years.
50,000 cubic meters of concrete, 4,000 tons of steel, 35 kilometers of water pipes, and 500 kilometres of wiring were used in the tower. The building has a cream hue tile facade which was created especially for the tower and was manufactured in Italy. The retail promenade includes a huge mosaic mural wall by noted Israeli artist Nachum Gutman.[3]
The building was partially renovated in 2003–04. As part of the renovation, the top three floors were converted into 14 residential apartments, Tel Aviv's largest bar-restaurant, which accommodates more than 200 people at a time, is placed at the ground level, and the tower's maintenance costs were reduced by 20% by reducing the number of employees in the tower's operating staff.
In November 2010, some of the tower's top floors caught fire, and four people sustained minor injuries.[4]