Local practice Bruzkus Greenberg has redesigned a penthouse apartment in Berlin, adding a blue-stained wooden core that contains key functions including the entrance and built-in banquette.
Bruzkus Greenberg aimed to make the 75-square-metre apartment, located in the Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood, more practical and cohesive for its owners.
The “blue box” contains key functions including the apartment’s entrance and built-in banquette
The existing cellular layout was organised around an unused fireplace and comprised several rooms, one without any natural light, that were cut off from one another.
Bruzkus Greenberg founders Ester Bruzkus and Peter Greenberg removed the fireplace and all of the internal walls to create an open-plan arrangement with circulation organised around a distinctive inner core.
Ester Bruzkus and Peter Greenberg renovated the space to feature an open-plan arrangement
The bespoke timber element combines wall panelling, storage and a built-in banquette. This bold and practical intervention makes the staircase appear more discreet while expanding the living area by wrapping around a corner.
“We realised that by taking away the fireplace altogether and screening the stairs with a shelving unit, we made the dining area become the new centre of the apartment,” said Greenberg.
The staircase was painted in a delicate light blue and leads to a roof terrace
The joinery was made using wood that was stained rather than painted to retain the natural grain pattern. The dark-blue colour complements the adjacent staircase and sloping ceiling, which are both painted in a lighter sky-blue hue.
The blue box contains the apartment’s entrance, which leads into a compact, low-ceilinged cloakroom area before arriving into the brighter living space.
“The dark and low entry makes the open space of the main room feel so much larger,” claimed Greenberg, adding that “a sense of lightness comes not only because there are no dividing walls, but because there is a contrasting dark core.”
Mirrored panels helping to create the illusion of more space
The existing staircase located alongside the blue box ascends to a roof terrace providing views across the rooftops of Prenzlauer Berg.
The terrace features built-in wooden benches that double as storage boxes for outdoor cushions.
A sleeping area is separated from the living space by built-in cabinetry
On the opposite side of the living area, a second section of built-in cabinets contains a full-height closet and shelving, with mirrored panels helping to create the illusion of more space.
A sleeping area located beyond the cabinets can be separated from the living space using a light-blue curtain that retracts fully into the cabinetry. The back of the bed’s headboard incorporates a desk for use as a home office.
The headboard and curtain provide privacy when needed, while the rest of the time the space remains open to allow cross ventilation throughout the apartment.
A low-profile armchair and ottoman complement a bespoke yellow sofa
The living area features a bespoke butter-yellow sofa designed by Bruzkus Greenberg specifically for the space.
The width and depth of each segment of the Sophia 3000 sofa are equal so the cylindrical cushions fit neatly along the back or sides.
Remi restaurant in Berlin is defined by cherry-red joinery
All of the furnishings and decor were sourced through Bruzkus’s commercial agency Studiocoucou, including a low-profile armchair and ottoman that complement the yellow sofa.
The blue tone of the stained-wood veneer is picked up in accents including a glossy side table and the dining area’s bench seat, which is upholstered in the Rox & Fix fabric from Svenskt Tenn.
The roof terrace features built-in wooden benches that double as storage boxes
Mirrored surfaces throughout the apartment amplify the sense of space, while an existing column in the middle of the living area is covered with mirrors to make it hide in plain sight.
The project epitomises Bruzkus Greenberg’s design approach, which combines logical planning and careful attention to detail with a playful use of colours and materials.
“We like projects that create a dialogue of space and light, materiality and color, existing constraints and new opportunities – and especially a synergy between the needs of the space, the client and the aspirations of great design,” the duo pointed out.
The project epitomises Bruzkus Greenberg’s design approach
Bruzkus Greenberg recently completed a co-working space in central Berlin.
Elsewhere in Prenzlauer Berg, Spanish firm Plantea Estudio selected wood, granite and stainless steel for the interior design of the neighbourhood’s Acid cafe.
The photography is by Pion Studio.