Transforming a minimal, industrial space into a home of playful details is a task made for one of our favourite Berlin-based design studios, . With custom furniture and a highly directional interior scheme, their newly built Prenzlauer Berg residence proves that opposites do attract.
DESIGN | PHOTOGRAPHY | WORDS Annie Carroll
The building, designed by Eike Becker Architects, is flooded with natural light that filters through glass feature walls, achieving a sense of refracted transparency. Sunlight is a design feature in itself, moving like angular spotlights through windows and across the whitewashed floors. This thoughtful use of light is seen throughout the open-plan layout. But it’s the interiors and furniture that really bring the outside in.
Sitting alongside built-in interiors by , the custom furniture, including a bed, chaise lounge, table and a bench provides a familiar warmth to what could have otherwise been sparse surrounds. Curved edges, warm oak tones, and signature playfulness allow the Loft Kolasinksi pieces to work alongside bold vintage highlights. Sourced from the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany and Poland, the unique accent furniture and lighting installations make it hard to determine what is new and what is repurposed, reinforcing Loft Kolasinksi’s knack for creating a seamless theme as seen in previous projects like the .
Artwork includes unique graphics by Polish artist , whose featured work dates back to the 1950s, and a painting by the Brazilian artist, . Soft, round, oak towel hooks sit on top of a brutalist concrete bath tub, adding further unexpected charm to an open-plan bedroom made for spending long, sun-drenched weekends. Outside on the tiled terrace, seductively curved chairs sit alongside large round planters filled with spiky succulents.
Each of these contrasts confirms the unique philosophy of juxtaposition that the home articulates so well. In fact, it’s these contradicting elements that define so much of the home. Perhaps the best example is the open-plan living space, where a muted palette has been punctured with a phosphorescent green carpet from the 1960s. A clever way of heightening the greenery that can be spotted from almost every window, it’s a further addition to the way in which the home balances the organic and natural with the minimal and structured.
The charcoal and cloud grey tones that soften the interior make for a tactile reprieve from the reductive walls and raw concrete ceilings, while a plump, large lounge is a comforting addition to the living area. The home exudes elegance deceptive in its simplicity.
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