Conversion under monument protection, Berlin

The residential building, built in traditional solid construction, is part of a listed complex consisting of timber-framed buildings that were built and operated as a municipal workhouse in 1877-1879. The construction with brick masonry walls together with a cap ceiling above the basement and load-bearing wooden beams in the ceilings of the upper floors remains untouched for the project.

The creation of a new maisonette flat could be implemented in a manner compatible with the preservation of monuments by opening up a field in the existing wooden beam ceiling. In one section, the wooden staircase, inserted precisely between the load-bearing beams, connects two existing flats on top of each other. In addition to vertical access, the component combines other functions, such as a storage room under the stairs or additional storage space integrated into the steps. The actual flight of stairs disappears behind a filigree harp-like partition wall made of wooden slats mounted at 3 cm intervals, while the first ascents are designed as a stepped landscape and offer informal seating.

A new room layout creates two additional rooms on the upper floor. The existing kitchens on the ground floor and upper floor were demolished and replaced by a spacious kitchen-living room that mimetically confronts the staircase, designed as a piece of furniture, in its materiality. All measures have been carried out in an inhabited state. The work was carried out in close coordination with the heritage protection authority.

Design and detailed planning, as well as tendering and construction management are all managed from a single source by bfl | Architekten.