Nalaga'at

Nalaga'at lighted facade at night
Type: 
New Construction
Location: 
Tel Aviv, Israel
Year Completed: 
2007
Funding: 
Private

Introduction

The world’s first professional deaf-blind theater company, founded in 2002 in Israel, opened their Nalaga’at Center in an elegantly restored hanger in the old Jaffa Port section just South of Tel Aviv in a warehouse area being rejuvenated as a cultural hub. At the Center, whose name means "Do Touch" in Hebrew, they turn experience and communication upside down. People who don’t see and/or don’t hear are in charge and people who do – most audience members and customers of the restaurant and cafe– must adapt to unfamiliar ways of communicating and experiencing the environment. The Center, whose renovation was designed by architect Eyal Ziv, theater architect Eitan Ron-el and interior designers Rommey and Ohad Silber-Benit, was completed in December 2007. The street-level complex includes a large lobby with an information desk and box office, a 330-seat theater, Café Kapich (‘understand’), a bar, the Blackout Restaurant and offices and back-stage facilities. The theater company was award-winning before opening their own space but the unusual experiential appeal of the renovated Jaffa space brought over 70,000 visitors in its first year of the Center’s opening.  

Description

Adina Tal and Eran Gur founded Nalaga’at, the world’s first deaf-blind theater ensemble in 2002. Their premier play, “Light Is Heard in Zig Zag,” toured in Israel, Europe and the US and was awarded the “Symbol of Equality” prize from the President of the State of Israel. After touring for three years to international acclaim, Nalaga’at found and rented a large, rundown hangar/warehouse from the Armenian Orthodox Church that had no connection to water, sewer or electrical service.

Nalaga’at chose the Jaffa area of Tel Aviv because it’s a multi-cultural community with low-cost underused buildings that offer opportunities for adaptive reuse. The reconstruction converted an old warehouse into a cultural center including a theater, restaurants, a bar and a coffee shop in addition to an office space. The whole operation employs 90 people with sight or hearing limitations including hard-of-hearing, culturally Deaf, blind, visually impaired and deaf-blind. Staff also includes administrative support and interpreters.

Co-Founder Eran Gur directed the construction process with Shay Tamari and Alon Levi at his side. Their limited budget required using recycled material and products. They bought second-hand theater seats, used amplification equipment from a closed theater and kitchenware from a bankrupt restaurant. Though the design includes many distinct features that facilitate use of the building by people who cannot see or hear, the center was designed from a universal design perspective attentive to a range of physical, sensory and cognitive abilities. Standard features for people with mobility limitations such as a level entrance, designated accessible parking, accessible restrooms and a lowered box-office counter are a base level of accessibility supplemented by many additional features.

Designers created an acoustically sophisticated environment and supplemented that with a range of assistive technology. The theater is equipped with a large area Infra Red assistive listening system and personal Infra Red receivers (headphones or induction neck loops distributed by request free of charge), the box-office counter is equipped with induction loop system, and personal amplifiers are available for diners at the Blackout restaurant. Performances are narrated in Hebrew, signed by a Hebrew sign language interpreter and supplemented with “surtitles,” theatrical subtitles, in English and Arabic. Sign language and touch sign language interpreters are assigned to each actor on the stage.

The sensory consultants also helped to improve the environment for people with low vision. Non-glossy colors and appropriate color contrasts were used to improve visibility. The natural and artificial light levels are controlled. The font, size, and color contrast of the signage was designed to meet the needs of people with low vision. Warning signs and guiding systems, including hand-rails, were installed to help visually impaired staff and patrons navigate indoors. There are pavement guiding blocks from the parking area to the main entrance. A three-dimensional tactile model of the Center was placed at the main entrance to help orient all visitors by offering a multi-sensory tool for familiarizing themselves with the layout of the Center's functional areas.

Nalaga’at offers a Blackout dining experience, one of a number of sites across the globe where one can dine in complete darkness. Without sight, one uses the remaining senses to enjoy the smell and taste of food, and focus on conversation and sensation. The experience can give people a better understanding of visual impairments and may demystify some misconceptions. Prior to entering the Blackout restaurant, diners are instructed to remove all light source gadgets such as: watches, mobile phone etc, in order to experience a thorough simulation of sightlessness during their meal. Patrons may chose from a standard menu prior to starting the experience, or opt for chef's choice and try to discern the contents of the meal without sight. Each visitor may leave her personal valuables at a locker during the approximately one and a half hour meal.

Nalaga’at promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities in the mainstream society and offers a model of service as well as employment of people with sensory limitations to the patrons visiting the center, attending the performances, and dining at the restaurants. The theater and dinging venues generate the primary revenue for Nalaga’at, which aims to empower and help the social integration of deaf, blind and deaf-blind individuals through employment and community integration.

Design and the User Experience

Nalaga’at is intended to work for the widest variety of audience members across the widest possible spectrun of needs, preferences, and backgrounds. The theater is also a flexible space and is rented out as a function space and conference location for outside organizations. There was no formal participatory process for design development but founding leaders of Nalaga’at were the clients for the project and were familiar with the needs of the blind and deaf performers and other workers. In addition, experienced sensory consultants provided assistance to the designers. Their services were paid by the fund for Development of Services for People with Disabilities of the National Insurance Institute of Israel (NII).

Deaf-blind and blind employees are provided with transportation to and from the Center. Audiences may arrive to the Center by public transportation or by private cars. Parking spaces are also available less than 200 meters from the Center.

Evaluation

Nalaga’at was designed as a space usable by everyone but included familiar and innovative design features that minimize limitations for deaf and/or blind staff. Tactile guiding lines and warning signs offer navigational guides for the performers and visually impaired visitors.

The communication and information exchange between visitors and Nalaga’at staff intends to confound the familiar and offer a glimpse into the experience of people with limitations in sight and hearing. All of the waiters in the café are deaf so customers must communicate without speech. Each table has a sheet of sign language instructions. In the Blackout restaurant, diners are led to their seats by placing their hand on the shoulder of their blind waiter.

A possible improvement is being considered by Nalaga’at: to add an additional screen on stage to project the images of the sign language interpreters for enhanced viewing for people sitting far from the stage.

A Post-Occupancy Evaluation (in Hebrew) was conducted by an accessibility consultancy team through the fund for Development of Services for People with Disabilities of National Insurance Institute of Israel (NII).http://www.btl.gov.il/English%20Homepage/About/Pages/default.aspx

Universal Design Features

  • The theater is equipped with large area Infra Red assistive listening system and personal IR receivers (headphones or induction neck loops are distributed by request free of charge).
  • The box-office counter is equipped with induction loop system, and personal amplifiers are available for diners at the Blackout restaurant.
  • Both open captioning and sign-language interpretation are offered during performances.
  • Sign language and touch sign language interpreters are assigned to each actor on the stage and captioning is provided on a large screen in two languages. 
  • The natural and artificial light levels are controlled.
  • The font, size, and color contrast of the signage was designed to accommodate people with low vision.
  • Warning signs and guiding lines, including hand rails, were installed to navigate visually impaired patrons indoors.
  • Tactile guiding blocks from drop-off and parking areas to the main entrance assist blind pedestrians. 
  • A tactile model of the complete building at the main entrance helps to orient visitors.

Environmentally Sustainable Features

  • Nalaga’at is an adaptive reuse of an old, unused hanger. 
  • Much of the furniture and equipment was recycled.

Project Details

Project Team

Client

Name: Adina Tal and Eran Gur
Company: Nalaga’at Center
Email: adina@nalagaat.org.il
Telephone: 972 3 633 08 08

Project Manager

Name: Tami Eyalon
Company: Development of Services for People with Disabilities of National Insurance Institute of Israel. (NII).
Email: tamia@nioi.gov.il

Architects

Name: Architect Eyal Ziv and theater architect Eytan Ron-el
Telephone: 972 3 682 22 96 / 972 2 651 21 45

Interior Designer

Name: Rommey and Ohad Silber-Benit
Telephone: +972-3-682-2296 / 972-2-651-2145

Universal/Inclusive Design Consultant

Name: Orna Eran (accessible Hearing Care) and Nurit Neustadt-Noy (accessible Vision Care)
Email: ornaeran@netvision.net.il nuritnoy@macam.ac.il

 

Landscape Designer

Name: Municipality of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa

Contractor

Name: Khaled
Company: Obi Center

Engineer

Name: Yuval Achbert
Telephone: 972-9-957-3842

Public Agency, Authority Oversight or Partnership

Name: Development of Services for People with Disabilities of National Insurance Institute of Israel. (NII).
Email: tamia@nioi.gov.il
Telephone: 972–2-670-7746

Safety Consultant

Name: Shahar Bar
Telephone: 972-3-546-6306

Electricity Consultant

Name: Assaf Ben Asher
Telephone: 972-3-644-5153

Acoustics Consultant

Name: Yaron Ayun
Telephone: 972-3-647-6433

Additional information

Funding By

National Endowment for the ArtsMasschusetts Cultural Counsil

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