The two-family house from the 1920s, centrally located in Berlin-Köpenick, is adapted to the needs of a young family through sensitive interventions in the existing building.

The energetic renovation of the facade required a redesign of the envelope, in which each side of the building receives its own quality and gives the now single-family house generosity. The base of rough cement plaster forms a continuous band that emphasizes and highlights the individual parts of the building. In the sense of the overall composition, selected windows are visually extended upwards with the same rough plaster. In this way, the original design elements of the building are adopted. Through a new large opening and an exterior staircase, the relation to the building’s own garden is worked out on the former back side.

Inside, the building receives some spatial modification. The kitchen is extended into the area of the old bathroom, creating a niche with custom kitchen cabinetry. In the back part, the guest bathroom with a storage closet is created. The living room and kitchen are combined into one space, and the large opening to the garden gives them a three-sided orientation to the outside space with a spatial sequence from the annex to the living area and kitchen to the garden.

On the upper floor, the former kitchen and bathroom are connected and a spacious family bathroom with shower niche and laundry room is created. The staircase will be preserved in its original appearance and will be repainted to become the connecting design element of the interior.

Energetically, the building will be upgraded by means of new wood-aluminum windows and mineral insulation, so that low-temperature layout of the heating system will be possible. The heat is generated by a modern geothermal heat pump with a ring trench collector. The near-surface collector combines efficiency and low investment costs.