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    Studio Aisslinger transforms historic Berlin art squat into Fotografiska Berlin

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    A former department store that became a famous artists’ squat is now home to Fotografiska Berlin, a photography museum featuring interior design by German designer Werner Aisslinger.

    Once the second-largest shopping arcade in Berlin, the building is best known as the Kunsthaus Tacheles, home of the Tacheles artist collective, who occupied it from 1990 to 2012.
    Fotografiska Berlin is located in the former Kunsthaus Tacheles. Photo is by Patricia ParinejadAisslinger’s Berlin-based office, Studio Aisslinger, has transformed the former artist spaces into a new location for Fotografiska, which also has venues in New York, Shanghai, Stockholm and Tallinn.
    This follows a major renovation overseen by architects Herzog and de Meuron, which included a pyramid-shaped roof extension and the addition of apartments and office spaces.
    The venue combines exhibition galleries with hospitality spaces. Photo is by Patricia ParinejadAs a for-profit organisation, Fotografiska’s model is different from other museums and galleries in that it blends exhibition space with hospitality.

    Fotografiska Berlin stays open until 11pm, allowing visitors to combine an exhibition visit with dining or drinks.
    The design responds to this with spaces designed in the spirit of a members’ club. There are seven floors, including a restaurant, two bars, a cafe, a bakery, a shop and a ballroom.
    Historic graffiti is preserved throughout the interior. Photo is by Nicoló Lanfranchi”It’s a complex cosmos that reminds one of a large hotel, only with exhibitions rather than overnight stays,” explained Aisslinger.
    “A house like this doesn’t live from ticket sales alone. If you wanted that, you would have to calculate with state aid,” he continued.
    “But that’s not what’s supposed to happen here. That’s why the many catering and event areas play a very important role.”
    A ground-floor cafe and bar features velvet seating booths. Photo is by Patricia ParinejadAisslinger said the aim was to create interiors that weave together the building’s different layers of history.
    Located on the corner of Oranienburger Strasse and Friedrichstrasse, the building was first inaugurated in 1909 as the Friedrichstrasse Passage.

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    It was repurposed many times over the following decades – during the Nazi regime the building served as the headquarters for the party’s German Labour Front and its SS corps – and was due to be torn down before the Tacheles group moved in.
    As the Kunsthaus Tacheles, the building became a symbol of the post-reunification era, filled with large-scale graffiti works that are now protected by preservation orders.
    The department store’s original floor tiles are retained in the museum shop. Photo is by Patricia Parinejad”We tried to let the historic substance shine through a new use,” said Aisslinger.
    “It was important to give the substance room to breathe. But that doesn’t mean that we frame the old walls and graffiti-like pictures and illuminate them with spotlights. It was more a question of proceeding carefully.”
    Studio Aisslinger’s design aims to balance old and new. Photo is by Nicoló LanfranchiMany spaces are characterised by a careful balance between raw, industrial materials and more comfortable, luxurious elements, including decorative lamps and heavy, patterned fabrics.
    The Verōnika restaurant on the fourth floor is a key example of this.
    Verōnika is a restaurant organised around a central bar. Photo is by Nicoló LanfranchiThe space incorporates one of the building’s best-known artworks – depicting former German chancellor Angela Merkel with a mohawk hairstyle – in a private dining room featuring solid wood furniture and velvet upholstery.
    The ground floor has more of a casual, public feel. The cafe bar has fluted tiles and curving leather and velvet banquettes, while the shop features both original floor tiles and steel and wood shelving systems.
    Industrial materials are paired with soft lighting and patterned fabrics. Photo is by Patricia ParinejadThe level of intervention varies throughout, depending on the nature of each space.
    A light touch was adopted for the grand double-height ballroom, known as the Golden Hall, which was used as a theatre venue by the Tacheles.
    A different approach was required for Bar Clara, which is located under the new pyramid-shaped roof. Offering a panoramic view of the city skyline, it combines mirrored walls with shades of smoky grey, light blue and purple.
    The ballroom space was previously used as a theatre. Photo is by Nicoló LanfranchiFotografiska Berlin opened in September, although some of the bar and restaurant spaces came later.
    Some critics have questioned whether a private museum is an appropriate use of a building that had become synonymous with Berlin’s underground creative scene after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
    Aisslinger, whose previous projects in the city include the 25hours Bikini Berlin Hotel, believes the new model brings back the social spirit that came to define the Kunsthaus Tacheles.
    Bar Clara is a rooftop space offering panoramic views. Photo is by Nicoló Lanfranchi”The Tacheles was always an event space as well,” he said. “It was always a bit more. In this respect, one can say that this social aspect already existed in the house and that it is being brought back to life right now.”
    “We want to look ahead to the future whilst embracing the past, and to do so in a casual way,” he added. “That is very Berlin.”
    Main image is by Nicoló Lanfranchi.

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      PSLab’s monochromatic Berlin showroom is a “sacred place for light”

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      A pared-back palette of raw materials creates a calm backdrop for PSLab’s lighting products inside the brand’s Berlin workshop and showroom space, designed in collaboration with Belgian firm B-bis architecten.

      The newly opened studio occupies the ground floor and basement of a 1907 residential building in the city’s Charlottenburg district.
      PSLab has opened a new workshop and showroom in BerlinPSLab, which designs and manufactures light fixtures for architectural projects, set out to create a showroom where customers can experience lighting effects in a home-like environment.
      “PSLab is not a digital platform where clients pick and buy products,” the company’s founder Dimitri Saddi told Dezeen. “Therefore the physical space as a ‘home’ is most important for one-on-one communication.”
      “In Berlin, as with all our studios, we wanted to design a canvas to show the quality of our light and to show the process of our bespoke design approach by integrating a material library of endless opportunities and possibilities.”

      The space includes a materials library with a movable ladderWorking together with B-bis architecten, the design team looked to create a contemporary space that contrasts with Charlottenburg’s classical architecture whilst retaining references to common elements like colonnades, arches and symmetrical forms.
      The entrance takes the form of a large zinc-and-glass sliding door that is set into the facade of the building on Niebuhrstrasse. Moving the door aside reveals a full-height opening that welcomes visitors into the studio.
      The interior was designed to present the brand’s lighting to its best advantageInside, a double-height space with a six-metre-high ceiling allows lighting products to be hung in various heights and configurations.
      Arched openings on either side of the staircase void lead through to a garden room that looks onto a leafy courtyard. Daylight streams into the space through large windows to create a tranquil atmosphere.

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      The workshop space includes a materials library where visitors can touch and explore the physical qualities of the brand’s lighting products. A movable ladder provides access to items on the library’s upper rows.
      The cosy basement level is a place for informal conversations with clients. A projector in this parlour space also allows the team to display the company’s extensive digital library.
      The basement serves as a cosy loungeThroughout the studio, PSLab chose materials and finishes including lime wash, concrete, zinc and textiles that focus attention on how the space is lit rather than its architectural features to create a kind of “sacred place for light”.
      “It is all about monochromatics and textures, which are specific to the location,” said Mario Weck, a partner at PSLab GmbH. “The atmosphere lets people focus on our approach.”
      Gantries provide support for various light sourcesOn the ceiling of both the front room and garden room is a grey-steel gantry that helps unify the spaces whilst supporting various light sources as well as technical elements, much like on a theatre stage.
      Furniture is mostly built in, with simple cushions providing casual seating while cylindrical wooden side tables and coffee tables offer somewhere to place a cup or catalogue.
      The showroom is set in Berlin’s CharlottenburgPSLab has studios in Antwerp, Bologna, London, Stuttgart and Beirut, where the firm originated. For its UK headquarters, the company commissioned JamesPlumb to convert a Victorian tannery into a space that evokes the “quiet brutalism” of the former industrial building.
      Previously, the lighting brand has collaborated with Parisian studio Tolila+Gilliland on the design of an Aesop store in London featuring felt-covered walls and slim black pendant lights.
      The photography is by Nate Cook.

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      Grzywinski+Pons designs Locke at East Side Gallery to “capture the strange magic” of Berlin

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      Glass screen doors, bespoke furniture and natural textures draw on the waterside location of Locke at East Side Gallery hotel in Berlin by architecture studio Grzywinski+Pons.

      Located in the inner-city Friedrichshain district, Locke at East Side Gallery contains 176 studio apartments equipped with kitchenettes and living areas, for short stay through to longer tenancies as part of the Locke group’s “home-to-hotel” format.
      Rooms at Locke at East Side Gallery feature sliding doors with bespoke glass panelsFor the interiors, Matt Grzywinski of Grzywinski+Pons told Dezeen he wanted “the look and feel to be expressive and aspirational, but also comfortable and even quietly nurturing”.
      “I wanted to see if it could be exciting and calming all at once,” he said.
      Raw concrete walls catch the grazing light from the River SpreeThis dualism is reflected in the location of the hotel which, in one direction, faces the River Spree and overgrown riverfront lots on the opposite bank in Kreuzberg. The other side of the building, facing onto a busy road, looks out to the Mediaspree skyline of offices and hotels.

      The interior design takes its cues from the building’s microlocality. Bespoke kiln glass was made for glass panels in the rooms, which have the same character as the surface of the River Spree in grazing light. Most suites have private balconies with river or skyline views.
      “The Spree is a pretty placid river, and the light reflecting off of its gently textured surface is a major component of the views from the hotel,” Grzywinski told Dezeen.
      Rattan screens separate sleeping and living areasRaw concrete walls echo the remains of the Berlin Wall, which are directly in front of the hotel on the Friedrichshain side.
      “I try to employ texture to provide comfort and warmth in spaces or, conversely, contrast that with sleek or glossy surfaces,” the designer said.
      Calming colours and textures contrast with pops of colourIn the rooms, the palette of wood, concrete and textured glass was enlivened with pastel coloured soft furnishings, including turmeric chairs, pastel mirrors, braided grass rugs, suede and rattan headboards and screens.
      “Colour for me is intuitive,” Grzywinski explained. “Blush, mint, buff – powdery tones that I thought were a nice foil to the largely neutral and monochromatic, even industrial, context.”
      Jacques Biny bedside wall lights were incorporated into custom suede and rattan headboardsGrzywinski+Pons designed the majority of the furniture for the rooms, but also specified lighting and some other pieces including Jacques Biny bedside wall lights, which were integrated into custom bedheads, and BRDR Krueger chairs to complement the studio’s dining tables.
      The ground floor features complimentary co-working area for guests and locals, including a coffee shop and audiophile bar, as well as the Anima restaurant.
      Intended as a dedicated space for music lovers, the eating, drinking, listening concept of Anima was informed by Japan’s “kissaten” hi-fi cafes, which preceded affordable home stereos.
      ANIMA is an audiophile bar focussed on musicThe restaurant said they hope to help guests “connect to music and one another in a warm setting”.
      The social spaces on the ground floor resemble a gallery space that is used for art exhibitions and community events.
      Greenery in brick planters soften the concrete industrial spaceBuilt-in seating and planters were fabricated from locally-sourced bricks comprised of recycled sand and lime. Furnishings echo the wider design treatment in a palette of timber, cane, fabric and cord.
      “As furnishings and installations get closer to the touch level, I introduced colour and texture that hopefully was harmonious, and in contrast to the otherwise raw public spaces,” Grzywinski said.

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      “The wall curtains literally transition from grey to blush with an ombre print,” he continued.
      “I wanted the hotel to capture some of that strange magic Berlin has, where you can feel like you are in the centre of a vast and dynamic avant-garde metropolis, which simultaneously presents like a tranquil retreat.”
      Curtains in the lobby feature a subtle ombre fade from grey to blushSince its first location opened in 2016, Locke has expanded to include 14 sites across the UK and mainland Europe, with Zurich, Copenhagen, Lisbon and Paris locations due to open in the next year.
      Other hotels recently featured on Dezeen include The Hoxton Charlottenburg by AIME Studios in Berlin and Cowley Manor Experimental in the Cotswolds, UK, designed by Dorothée Meilichzon.
      Photography is by Nicholas Worley.

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      The Hoxton Charlottenburg draws on Berlin’s brutalist and art nouveau architecture

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      The Hoxton hotel has opened its first German outpost in Berlin’s Charlottenburg, with interiors designed to blend the contrasting architectural styles that rub shoulders in the affluent neighbourhood.

      Located just off the Kurfürstendamm shopping street in West Berlin, the 234-room hotel was styled on a cross between the area’s Jugendstil mansion blocks and the comparatively rugged concrete buildings of the brutalist era.
      The Hoxton has opened a hotel in BerlinThe result is an aesthetic concept that the company’s in-house design team AIME Studios has dubbed “rough nouveau”.
      “By drawing inspiration from the surrounding area and celebrating the contrasting styles, we were looking to create a unique interpretation of this corner of the city, which will be recognisable to locals and let visitors get a sense of the area,” AIME Studios design associate Charlie Cruickshank told Dezeen.
      Vintage mid-century furniture features in the lobbyBrutalist influences can be seen in the oversized concrete columns that run through The Hoxton’s lobby, which is finished in a textured plaster to match.

      This provides a rough backdrop for more elaborate decorative touches, ranging from mosaic flooring to bespoke Murano glass chandeliers with botanical-inspired forms that draw on the art nouveau ironwork and tiling found in the surrounding buildings.
      Patterned tiles were used to decorate some of the joinery”One of the features we noticed many times while walking around Charlottenburg were the tiled doorways with elaborate designs,” Cruickshank said.
      “Tiles are used in many decorative and creative ways throughout the area and they are also integrated into some of our joinery pieces.”
      The lobby is defined by an airy blue and green colour paletteAt the back of the blue- and green-toned lobby with its vintage mid-century furniture sits the Winter Garden bar, finished with patterned mosaic tiles to create a conservatory-meets-courtyard atmosphere.
      Here, a Delft-inspired tiled fireplace nods to traditional Swedish stoves while fostering a cosy atmosphere during Berlin’s frosty winters.
      “The references to the beautiful tiles in the local area were emphasised wherever possible, and the finely painted botanical designs echo classic art nouveau motifs,” Cruickshank said.
      The Winter Garden bar features mosaic flooring and a tiled fireplaceAlso on the ground floor are the House of Tandoor restaurant and the Teahouse cafe and bar, both designed to fuse the elegant Charlottenburg aesthetic with Indian influences, taking design cues from the grand palaces of Kolkata and Mumbai in the 1920s.
      In the cafe, shell-patterned mosaic tiles pick up the subtle green hues in the bar’s marble countertop while oversized windows flood the space with light.
      “The show-stopping scalloped marble floor tiles feature colours inspired by Indian spices and herbs that are used for the cocktail menu,” said Cruickshank.
      A curved bar with a scalloped countertop features in the Teahouse cafeIn the next-door restaurant, an open-plan copper-and-wood kitchen takes centre stage alongside richly upholstered banquettes.
      Framed vinyl covers and vintage-style gramophones reference India’s jazz era, representing the fusion of Indian and Western cultures.

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      “The concept for the restaurant is to emulate the vibrant colour palette of the spices and textiles found in the markets of Mumbai as well as the quirky curiosities often found within the markets, such as gramophones,” said Cruickshank.
      “This also has a nod to the theatricality of the 1920s Weimar era and the cultural importance of jazz during this time.”
      The House of Tandoor restaurant serves modern Indian fareThe “rough nouveau” concept continues in the 234 bedrooms, where a restrained take on the whiplash curves of art nouveau can be seen in features such as the headboards while the lighting brings a raw, unpolished element to each room.
      A muted colour palette of soft pinks and greens provides a sense of warmth that is amplified by the vintage furniture, herringbone flooring and patterned rugs.
      The hotel has 234 guest roomsBuilding on the hotel’s links to its locale are the illuminated room numbers.
      “Illuminated house and apartment number signs are a quintessential feature you see all over West Berlin,” Cruickshank said. “Using these signs references this distinctive design marker of the neighbourhood.”
      A curved headboard nods to the swirling lines of art nouveauA top-floor party and event space, The Apartment, includes three flexible private rooms arranged around a central kitchen.
      The Apartment’s aesthetic was informed by the life and work of Mary Wigman, a German dancer and choreographer who pioneered expressionist dance and lived in West Berlin in the early 20th century.
      The Apartment offers a space for hosting private parties and events”We imagined the space to be like a 1920s apartment looking out over the vibrant city with art nouveau influences in the floral and botanical wallpapers and the soft pastel colour palette,” Cruickshank said.
      “The location of The Apartment on the top floor of the hotel adds to the residential feel of the space.”
      The space features homey furnishings reminiscent of an apartmentThe Hoxton’s other outposts include a hotel informed by the work of Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill in Barcelona and one housed in Chicago’s old meatpacking area.
      The photography is courtesy of The Hoxton.

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      Crosby Studios uses steel kitchen equipment to create Berlin jewellery store interior

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      A faux industrial kitchen and yellow camping furniture feature in this store in Berlin by Crosby Studios for jewellery brand Avgvst.

      The studio put the space together from scratch using repurposed furniture and fittings including office blinds, camping chairs and kitchen equipment.
      The store’s colour scheme is dominated by grey, silver and yellowThe space is situated on the ground floor of a 19th-century building and retains a conventional glazed shop front. In contrast, the interior aims to distance itself from traditional jewellery stores.
      “The main idea was to create a new sense of retail in a non-traditional commercial way,” Crosby Studios told Dezeen.
      Cookers, storage and washing stations have become jewellery display casesThe store draws on the concept of a dark kitchen, a fast food outlet that provides food for deliveries and takeaways but doesn’t have a dedicated area for in-house dining.

      “We purchased all the steel appliances and shelving from the kitchen supply store in Berlin,” the studio said. “We needed sturdy stainless shelves with sliding drawers, which is why we decided to repurpose restaurant equipment.”
      Splashes of yellow animate the store’s interiorThe interior scheme is unified by its use of yellow paint, which is Avgvst’s signature brand colour.
      Yellow details at the front of the store include a kitchen sink, a rinsing tap with a coiled arm and numerous small display stands for jewellery.

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      The back of the space features yellow storage cabinets, curtains and foldable furniture, as well as yellow and green flowers and plants that soften the space’s industrial feel.
      “Yellow is associated with gold, which is reflected in Avgvst’s jewellery,” the studio said.
      Yellow details are picked out in display stands, seating, signage and wiringAside from the dominant use of yellow, other features include the space’s original exposed brick walls and wooden door lintels that have been lined with slats from repurposed office blinds.
      Foldable camping tables, chairs and stools are set up as permanent furniture to add to the interior’s playful atmosphere.
      Yellow flowers and green foliage soften the industrial aesthetic of the shopJewellery has been laid out on top of stainless steel equipment in the spots once dedicated to food preparation, replacing ingredients and dishes with high-end jewellery.
      To celebrate the store’s opening, Avgvst designed a range of pieces that mimic the shape of knives, forks and spoons.
      The tattoo studio is situated towards the back of the spaceAs well as a jewellery shop, the space houses a tattoo studio and a garden area.
      “The tattoo studio works as a pop-up space for the artists, whose style and aesthetics we like,” the studio said.
      “They make their own tattoos, as well as the flash sets inspired by the designs of our jewellery. The garden will host yoga classes, meditation sessions and pop-up dinners.”
      Other retail design projects published on Dezeen include a clothing boutique in Shanghai that incorporates oversized buttons and an Aesop store in London piled high with sage green books.
      The photography is courtesy of Crosby Studios.

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      Forma is a nomadic design gallery popping up around Berlin

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      Contemporary German furniture designs are displayed alongside vintage pieces at this travelling gallery that multidisciplinary designer Vanessa Heepen has launched in Berlin.

      Rather than having a permanent home, Forma will take over different locations across the German capital.
      Forma’s first exhibition was held in a building next to the Spree riverThe gallery’s inaugural exhibition, titled The Room I Walk the Line, was recently on show on the ground floor of a mixed-use building in Friedrichshain, nestled in between fragments of the Berlin Wall on the banks of the river Spree.
      “To be honest, the area is not where I would typically choose to open a gallery,” Heepen told Dezeen. “But when I first saw a picture of it on a real estate website, I was deeply touched by its huge windows, red columns and by the water, of course.”
      It featured German designers including Nazara Lázaro (left) and Studio Kuhlmann (top right)A trained interior designer, Heepen largely left the space in its found state but worked with her team to create a simple mahogany bar counter and storage unit for the gallery.

      She also asked “soft architecture” studio Curetain to create a white latex screen for the corner of the gallery.
      As part of the exhibition, this served as the backdrop for a tall white spectator shelf by Stuttgart-based Freia Achenbach, along with a graphic white stool by local designer Nazara Lázaro.
      This wiggly coat stand was mong the vintage pieces featuredOther pieces in the exhibition included a pigmented concrete chair by Carsten in der Elst and hanging metallic stars by Studio Kuhlmann, both from Cologne, as well as a translucent shelf by Berlin’s Lotto Studio.
      Forma also sourced a number of vintage pieces from Moho – a 20th-century furniture showroom in Prenzlauer Berg – among them an embossed metal cabinet and a wriggly coat stand.

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      One of Heepen’s main motivations for founding the gallery was to carve out a space for showcasing design-led furnishings in Berlin, which she says is something of a rarity in the German capital.
      “It is a discursive topic, and people have always been unsure about the success of it,” she explained. “After Forma’s first edition, I am glad to say it was hugely successful”.
      Contemporary design pieces included a translucent shelf by Lotto StudioThe designer is currently on the hunt for Forma’s next location and will let the new setting inform her selection of furnishings.
      “I’m always open to something new that occurs within the process,” she said. “I hold on to my vision, but I am also open to taking a detour.”
      Also featured was a pigmented concrete chair by Carsten in der ElsElsewhere in Berlin, Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron is currently constructing a major new museum for modern art.
      The building’s design came under fire at the end of last year, when it was discovered its complex air conditioning system would result in the venue using four times as much energy as a nearby museum from the 1800s.
      The photography is by Matthias Leidinger. 
      The Room I Walk the Line was on show at Mühlenstrasse 63 in Berlin from 15 June to 15 July 2023. For more exhibitions, events and talk in architecture and design, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

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      Irina Kromayer designs Château Royal hotel to feel “authentic” rather than retro

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      Interior architect Irina Kromayer has overseen the design of Berlin’s Château Royal hotel, creating a series of eclectic spaces that reference the heyday of the German capital at the turn of the 20th century.

      The 93-room Château Royal is located in the heart of Mitte, on a street parallel to Unter den Linden boulevard and close to the iconic Brandenburg Gate.
      Château Royal has 93 rooms (top image) as well as a fireside lounge (above)  The hotel comprises two buildings dating from 1850 and 1910, as well as a newer building and roof extension designed by David Chipperfield Architects.
      The renovation project, led by Kromayer with support from Swiss architect Etienne Descloux and interior designer Katariina Minits, aims to reflect the periods during which the heritage-listed buildings were constructed.
      Built-in joinery features in all the guest rooms”Our design goal was to provide the traveller with an ‘authentic’ experience of being in Berlin, using materials and colours that traditionally stand for the city’s heyday,” Kromayer told Dezeen.

      Oak panelling, art nouveau tiles, sisal carpets and hardware in brass and nickel were incorporated into the scheme based on the finishings commonly found in Berlin’s historic buildings.
      This was informed by the storage walls of traditional West Berlin apartmentsKromayer designed much of the furniture herself – as well as in collaboration with Porto-based German designer Christian Haas – in order to achieve a seamless merging of contemporary and classic details.
      “We didn’t want the hotel to be retro but rather to feel classic so we simplified things into less decorative shapes,” she explained.
      In addition, vintage pieces were sourced from all over Europe to give a lived-in “patina” to the interior and explore a more sustainable approach to furniture sourcing.
      Loupiotte pendant lights emphasise the building’s high ceilingsThe pendant lights for the guest rooms were created in collaboration with Berlin-based manufacturer Loupiotte and are intended to emphasise the building’s high ceilings.
      Made from Japanese paper and brass, the lamps are based on a 1920s design from Josef Hoffmann, one of the co-founders of the Wiener Werkstätte art movement.

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      The hotel’s custom-made wooden beds feature headboards crafted from Viennese wickerwork. Kromayer also created outdoor lanterns that reference traditional Berlin street lights and include unique glass panels made by artist Paul Hance.
      Built-in joinery found in each of the bedrooms was informed by the partition walls with integrated storage, which are typical of traditional West Berlin apartments.
      Glazed blue tiles can be found in the guest bathroomsPaintings by early 20th-century artists associated with the expressionist and new objectivity movements influenced the hotel’s bold colour scheme, which is applied across surfaces including tiles and upholstery textiles, along with curated artworks.
      The interior features colourful glazed bricks and tiles similar to those found in Berlin’s underground stations, as well as stained glass and coloured marble.
      Stained-glass panels brighten up the hotel barThe hotel bar is made from tin – a material Kromayer says was widely used at the turn of the century but is rarely found in contemporary German interiors. Nickel and chrome bathroom fixtures were chosen to reference the modernist and Bauhaus design movements.
      Alongside its guest rooms, which include 13 suites and an apartment, Château Royal also accommodates a lobby, bar, restaurant, private dining room, fireside lounge and winter garden.
      A Karl Holmqvist artwork hangs inside the hotel’s Dóttir eateryBuilt-in carpentry used throughout the public areas helps to create a sense of consistency with the bedrooms, while vintage furniture, rugs and lamps made for the hotel by KL Ceramics add to the eclectic feel of the spaces.
      The hotel’s restaurant, called Dóttir, features upholstered oak seating by Bauhaus designer Erich Dieckmann. Artworks including a neon piece by Karl Holmqvist bring character to the ground-floor eatery.
      Other recent renovation projects from Berlin include a pistachio-toned revamp of one of the city’s oldest cinemas and a hotel housed inside an abandoned women’s prison.
      The photography is by Felix Brueggemann.

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      Coordination merges Berlin attic apartments to create artsy penthouse

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      Design studio Coordination has combined two attic apartments into a single penthouse in Berlin, crafting its interiors around the owner’s art collection.

      The formerly separate attic apartments were added to the 19th-century residential building in the 1990s. By bringing them together, Coordination created a spacious penthouse of 131 square metres, with a floorplan that is split into a private and a public zone.
      Coordination has designed a penthouse in BerlinThe latter houses the kitchen, which is finished with dark wooden cabinetry to complement a moody 17th-century portrait displayed in the adjacent dining area.
      Here, there’s a large oval table supported by two concave legs, while amorphous pink, orange and berry-red pendant lights are suspended from the ceiling.
      The apartment’s owner can showcase ornaments on a custom shelving unitDividing these two spaces is what appears to be an oversized marble island but is actually a part of the apartment below that juts into the penthouse.

      Rather than trying to obscure this structure, Coordination has made it into a display plinth for the owner’s sculpture collection.
      Blue walls in the bedroom nod to the maritime-themed artwork on displayA tall brass-edged glass door grants access to the more private section of the home, where the living room can be found. Its walls are rendered in very pale green, drawing on the colours of an 18th-century painting of Christ and the Virgin Mary that’s mounted above the sofa.
      The same shade of green was applied to the base of a bespoke floor-to-ceiling shelf, where the owner can showcase different ornaments. A niche was also added to house their piano.

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      In the bedroom, surfaces were painted blue in reference to the various maritime artworks on show here.
      Turquoise-coloured storage was installed in the dressing room and a navy feature panel fitted behind the sink in the bathroom.
      Turquoise storage was installed in the adjacent dressing roomBerlin-based Coordination was founded in 2004 by Flip Sellin and Jochen Gringmuth.
      The studio isn’t the only one to take a client’s private collection into consideration when designing their home.
      In London, Gianni Botsford Architects devised a corten-steel extension to accommodate the owner’s curated selection of photographs, prints and lithographs, while over in Amsterdam i29 added double-height shelving to an apartment to show off the owner’s vast array of books and art objects.
      The photography is by Anne Deppe.
      Project credits:
      Architecture: CoordinationInterior concept: Flip SellinTeam: Chikako Sakamoto, Theresa OttoPartners: Vorschub, Greendom, Steinzeit BerlinProject management: Lena KramerFurniture design: Flip Sellin, Max WosczynaLighting concept: Coordination, Weißpunkt und purpurStyling: Nici Theuerkauf

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      Axel Arigato rejects “McDonald's approach” to interiors with Berlin flagship store

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      Travertine displays that double as DJ podiums feature alongside glistening butter-yellow columns in Axel Arigato’s Berlin outpost, which the streetwear label has designed together with longtime collaborator Halleroed.

      The brand’s flagship boutique is set in the central Scheunenviertel neighbourhood, across the ground floor of a prefabricated concrete Plattenbau building typical of post-war East Germany.
      Axel Arigato has opened a flagship store in BerlinStockholm design studio Halleroed was tasked with conceiving the interior scheme for the space, reviving some of the key visual themes the practice has established across all of Axel Arigato’s other stores.
      Rather than simply copy-and-pasting these elements, Halleroed mixed and matched them to create something new.
      Travertine was used to cover the floors and form chunky shelvesThis is illustrated in the store’s pale yellow columns, which effectively merge the glossy lacquered-metal surfaces seen in the London boutique with a muted version of the distinctive yellow accents that were used in the pop-up Stockholm shop.

      “We don’t have a McDonald’s approach where each store looks the same,” explained Axel Arigato’s creative director Max Svärdh.
      “We treat them as contemporary galleries and focus less on the transactional element, whilst staying true to our blueprint that keeps coming back in new shapes and materials.”
      Yellow-lacquered metal was used to envelop columns and form clothes railsRoman travertine, which features heavily across the brand’s Paris boutique, was used to cover the entire expanse of the floor, as well as forming chunky shelves and the plinths that encircle the interior columns.
      Rendered in various shapes, sizes and textures, these sculptural plinths can be used to display different trainers or act as counters and curved seating nooks when Axel Arigato is hosting an event in the store, which can comfortably accommodate up to 250 people.
      “The podiums – and in a way all the surfaces – are multipurpose in that we use them for displaying the weekly rotation of product drops, DJ decks at parties or pop-up merchandise when we hand over the space to other creatives,” Svärdh told Dezeen.

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      The raw natural texture of the travertine is contrasted against the lacquered metal, which was used to envelop the pillars and form a series of clothing rails curved around the perimeter of the room.
      “The glossy finish lends a highly visual element to our spaces and creates a nice contrast to the very organic materials and softer characters of the stone and the store’s generally muted character,” Svärdh explained.
      Mirrored pillars bookend a huge LED screenTogether with the floor-to-ceiling mirrors flanking a huge LED display, the shiny metal surfaces also help to reflect the illumination that is provided by the rows of strip lights running all the way across the ceiling.
      The flagship is Axel Arigato’s second bricks-and-mortar store in Germany, following the opening of its Munich outpost last November.
      Axel Arigato joins Hay, Acne Studios and a growing number of international brands that have moved into the Scheunenviertel in recent years. The area is rapidly being expanded into an alternative shopping destination tucked away behind the more touristy destinations of Berlin’s central Alexander Platz.
      Other businesses in the Scheunenviertel neighbourhood include Sofi – a bakery set in the courtyard of a restored brick factory.

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