Flat Renovation in Berlin
This tower-like building on Karl Marx Allee known as “Haus des Kindes” (Children’s House) is a number of stories taller than the structures surrounding it and, paired with the nearly identical “Haus Berlin”, creates a gate to Strausberger Platz. The floor plans of the building – inspired by 1950s Soviet neo-classicism – are based on a uniform grid which does not assign specific uses to the rooms. The client, a musician who travels frequently, wanted to rid herself of unnecessary belongings and was in search of a small, cultivated flat, as immaculate as a hotel suite. She chose the flat in the »Haus des Kindes« because it is on the seventh storey and has a large, south-facing terrace. A small corridor between the storey’s lobby and the terrace was annexed for the flat. The architects’ concept foresaw unifying the middle square, which had consisted of corridor, bathroom and kitchen. All non-structural walls were removed and the existing door openings in the load-bearing, transverse walls were widened to the extent allowed by the structural requirements; a long cabinet now extends through the openings’ centres.
