Clal Center, Modern office tower on Jaffa Road, Jerusalem, Israel
The Clal Center is a 15-story office tower at the southeastern corner of Jaffa Road and Kiah Street in Jerusalem. Its light grey ribbed concrete facade has horizontal window bands and a deeply recessed ground floor behind heavy concrete columns, with glazed shopfronts and Hebrew lettering reading "מרכז כלל" above the base. The building combines a large indoor shopping area on its lower floors with offices above.
The building opened in 1972, replacing the Alliance Vocational School campus, which had been Jerusalem's first Jewish trade school since 1882. This shift from educational institution to modern business center reflects Jerusalem's urban transformation in the second half of the 20th century.
The name derives from the Clal corporation, a subsidiary of which held 75 percent of the building company from 1978. The Alliance Vocational School that stood here left a memorial: an iron gate etched with the school's name in French, set between two stone pillars facing Jaffa Road. A mural in the Mahane Yehuda Market parking lot depicts the school building, garden, teachers and students.
The tower has entrances on Jaffa Road, Kiah Street and Agrippas Street, and an underground garage for 400 cars entered from Kiah Street. Pedestrians can enter at different levels because of the slope between the two streets. The light rail's customer service center is in the building, and the 2011–2012 square between the tower and Jaffa Road added granite paving, seating and trees.
The interior features an atrium that was originally open to the sky but was later covered to shield people from weather and elements. This change shows how the climate conditions in Jerusalem shaped the design of modern urban spaces.
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