Houzz Tour: A Contemporary Revamp of a 1950s Home
Irregular shapes and accents of green leather, oak and aluminium evoke the 1950s, but also add a contemporary touch
Sometimes things don’t go according to plan: A young family from Berlin, Germany, wanted a contemporary home but ended up buying a historical property from the ’50s. What can you do? Architects Carsten Wiewiorra and Anna Hopp helped them update the house, which had originally been designed as part of Interbau, a West Berlin post-war reconstruction project and an experiment in building what the West German government and architects once saw as the city of the future. With an open-plan design, amorphous units to house bathroom and storage space, and period materials, the architects’ revamp strikes a balance between eye-catching modern creativity and vintage appeal.
“We removed everything that wasn’t original to the house, in large part bringing it back to its original look,” Wiewiorra says. “The house is very closed off on the street side and opens up to the garden. We really developed this element.”
In the process, the team uncovered the pergolas at the back of the house, which had been enclosed in a previous renovation. Likewise, former owners had closed off the balconies on the home’s street side. The newly extended and glazed facade brings light into the family’s bedrooms and bathrooms.
In the process, the team uncovered the pergolas at the back of the house, which had been enclosed in a previous renovation. Likewise, former owners had closed off the balconies on the home’s street side. The newly extended and glazed facade brings light into the family’s bedrooms and bathrooms.
On the ground floor, the architect played with a variety of themes and materials, creating a lively and cosy atmosphere. “We went very colourful compared to our normal standards,” Wiewiorra says.
Each space on this lower level is dominated by a different material and colour palette. The living room’s multi-coloured seating is surrounded by the study’s oak shelves, the kitchen’s aluminium cabinets and the green-leather finish of the so-called ‘garden room’, which you can see in the background here.
The colourful decor is matched with an eye-catching hexagonal brick-pattern parquet floor. “It’s a great achievement of craftsmanship,” Wiewiorra says. The 35,000-piece oak parquet presents a stylistic connection between the period in which the home was built and today.
See these popular patterns for wooden floors
Each space on this lower level is dominated by a different material and colour palette. The living room’s multi-coloured seating is surrounded by the study’s oak shelves, the kitchen’s aluminium cabinets and the green-leather finish of the so-called ‘garden room’, which you can see in the background here.
The colourful decor is matched with an eye-catching hexagonal brick-pattern parquet floor. “It’s a great achievement of craftsmanship,” Wiewiorra says. The 35,000-piece oak parquet presents a stylistic connection between the period in which the home was built and today.
See these popular patterns for wooden floors
The study features custom-built oak shelves that span the circumference of the room, hugging its doorways and window. The shelves form an extension of the windowsill, creating an inviting bench with a view of the garden. The desk in the middle is an exact reproduction of the shape of the inner space of the room, rounded corners and all.
In places, the bookshelf offers views through to adjacent rooms beyond. Glass panels bisect some of the niches, allowing items to be placed on both sides.
“There used to be an optometry practice on the ground floor,” Wiewiorra says. “The connections between the rooms were different then. With these glazed openings, we have preserved these and made them subtly visible.”
The folding door fits into the bookcase perfectly when pushed open.
“There used to be an optometry practice on the ground floor,” Wiewiorra says. “The connections between the rooms were different then. With these glazed openings, we have preserved these and made them subtly visible.”
The folding door fits into the bookcase perfectly when pushed open.
The custom-made green-leather furniture of the green room directly references the garden outside. “With windows on three sides, you really feel as if you were sitting outside,” Wiewiorra says.
The heart of the home is its open-plan kitchen and dining area. The white dining table was designed especially for this project. “The owners wanted a very large, but not round, table where they could sit together,” Wiewiorra says. “This table does not create a hierarchy among those sitting around it and works well for groups of different sizes. It features a small curve on one end and a larger one on the other.”
Two shades of grey aluminium create unexpected light and colour effects in the kitchen. “The kitchen area is completely covered in aluminium panels,” Wiewiorra says. “This material reflects the light and the colours of the surroundings really well, so the colour of the kitchen is constantly changing.”
Two shades of grey aluminium create unexpected light and colour effects in the kitchen. “The kitchen area is completely covered in aluminium panels,” Wiewiorra says. “This material reflects the light and the colours of the surroundings really well, so the colour of the kitchen is constantly changing.”
Storage options were a priority in the renovation. The rooms in these photos look bare in part because the photos were taken shortly after the family moved in, but also because the owners purposely requested as much hidden storage as possible so they could keep their possessions neatly tucked away from view.
Storage in the entrance area and stairwell takes the form of a white built-in unit with an integrated seat. “The hallways are relatively large, and in our projects we always try to integrate a lot of storage space using built-in furniture,” Wiewiorra says.
Take a look at these incredible hallways on Houzz India
Storage in the entrance area and stairwell takes the form of a white built-in unit with an integrated seat. “The hallways are relatively large, and in our projects we always try to integrate a lot of storage space using built-in furniture,” Wiewiorra says.
Take a look at these incredible hallways on Houzz India
Art is an integral part of the home’s interior design. The wall of the curved staircase was decorated with an India ink drawing by Maria Hinze, a young Berlin-based artist.
“Our real task was the glass wall on the first floor,” Wiewiorra says. We needed a curtain for that.” However, they weren’t able to find a fitting pattern, and having their own fabric printed would have been prohibitively expensive for a 100-metre-long curtain.
Here, Wiewiorra’s other projects came in handy – he runs a gallery where he shows the work of up-and-coming artists. Wiewiorra had met Hinze there and turned to her for help. The artist drew a pattern on the curtain with textile dye, then extended the artwork onto the foyer walls.
Here, Wiewiorra’s other projects came in handy – he runs a gallery where he shows the work of up-and-coming artists. Wiewiorra had met Hinze there and turned to her for help. The artist drew a pattern on the curtain with textile dye, then extended the artwork onto the foyer walls.
Three amorphous linoleum units – covered in beige linoleum on the outside and black on the inside – define the layout of the second floor and contain a bathroom and two walk-in robes. The master bedroom and two children’s rooms are the ‘negative space’ left over by these units. Only a second bathroom on this floor is built like a regular-shaped room.
The units have no sharp corners and come in various shapes. “They connect the rooms and divide them at the same time,” Wiewiorra says. “This makes the rooms larger, because you can walk through them from room to room without a constant need to enter and exit.”
The units have no sharp corners and come in various shapes. “They connect the rooms and divide them at the same time,” Wiewiorra says. “This makes the rooms larger, because you can walk through them from room to room without a constant need to enter and exit.”
Two such units stand adjacent to the master bedroom. Pictured here, the unit on the right contains the bathroom and the other on the left houses a walk-in robe.
See how 5 rooms fit into this one unit
See how 5 rooms fit into this one unit
On the back of the second unit and facing away from the bedroom is the parents’ open-access vanity. A separate shower room (left) and two-piece powder room (right) are hidden inside the linoleum-covered unit. Their satin-finish corrugated glass doors transform them into private spaces.
The shower in the master bathroom also stands out for its colour – the architects tiled the room with green mosaics right up to the ceiling.
The owners were initially drawn to Wiewiorra Hopp Schwark Architekten after seeing another of their projects, named Townhouse. This is ironic, Wiewiorra says, because Townhouse is all-white. “Actually, they wanted a house just like that one: Very bright with lots of white. That’s not exactly what they got, but they are very happy nonetheless,” he says.
Read more:
This Fashion Designer’s Delhi Home Is Kitsch Perfect
Tell us:
What’s your favourite feature of this Berlin home? Tell us in the Comments below.
The owners were initially drawn to Wiewiorra Hopp Schwark Architekten after seeing another of their projects, named Townhouse. This is ironic, Wiewiorra says, because Townhouse is all-white. “Actually, they wanted a house just like that one: Very bright with lots of white. That’s not exactly what they got, but they are very happy nonetheless,” he says.
Read more:
This Fashion Designer’s Delhi Home Is Kitsch Perfect
Tell us:
What’s your favourite feature of this Berlin home? Tell us in the Comments below.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: A residential building in the Hansaviertel district of Berlin, Germany
Size: Approximately 4500 square feet (427 square metres)
Architect: Carsten Wiewiorra and Anna Hopp, Wiewiorra Hopp Schwark Architekten
The building was designed in 1957 by architects Klaus Kirsten and Heinz Nather for Interbau, a housing development that was part of that year’s International Building Exhibition. The upper floors were designed for private residential use, while the ground floor originally housed an optometry practice.
It had been renovated several times over the years, so Wiewiorra says it was in good shape when the current owners commissioned him to oversee its latest redesign. Still, it did not meet the family’s needs or aesthetic wishes before Wiewiorra set foot on-site.