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Villa GrünewaldResidential, mixed use
1600m2 Historical building
Berlin, Germany
© NEUE & Carl Brorson
Bronze
61 × 46 x 41 cm
Mumok, Wien
© 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS),
New York Photo © mumok Museum,
Stiftung Ludwig Wien

Description

Villa Grünewald
Berlin 2016–2023
Creative Director, Senior Project Architect & Manager

A late nineteenth-century Gründerzeit villa in Berlin-Grunewald, converted from multi-family residential into a single private property of around 1,600 m² on 6 levels. The programme combined approximately 40% private residence - accessed independently via biometric security - with 60% dedicated to semi-public use: reception rooms, offices, a games room, guest suites, kitchen and buffet facilities, conceived in the manner of a private members' club. A new indoor swimming pool was constructed at ground floor level. The project ran seven years from first concept to completion.

The guiding ambition was total - every surface, every object, every transition between materials considered and resolved at the level of craft. Nothing was left to catalogue selection. Wall panelling in natural stone and timber was designed room by room, detailed at 1:1 scale with full-size prototypes made before any material was fixed. Mantelpieces were hand-carved where suitable antiques could not be sourced. Tiling patterns across the bathrooms were custom-drawn and custom-cut. Marble bathtubs and sinks were carved to bespoke profiles. Antique oak flooring was sourced, graded, and laid throughout. Inlay carpets were commissioned to design. Custom lighting was developed for each space. The tulip staircase - spanning all levels and opening onto a series of internal balconies - was conceived as the central sculptural element of the house, a piece of architecture in itself.

The art was developed in close collaboration with gallerist Carl Kostyál, who worked alongside the studio to source and place artworks throughout the property. The intention was never a period recreation but a curated conversation between historical pieces and new commissions - surprising, considered, and specific to the building. A significant number of artists were engaged for hand-painted decorative works, murals, and bespoke objects.

The design language drew from the tradition of the British Victorian townhouse and the great Grade listed private residences of London - opulent but structurally historical, layered rather than decorated. Work proceeded throughout in close collaboration with Berlin's heritage authorities, using archive models and documentary evidence to locate the building's original character and find the right balance between restoration and reinterpretation.

The role encompassed the full scope: creative direction, architectural design development in 2D and 3D, construction detailing, specialist trade coordination across carpentry, stonemasonry, metalwork, and decorative painting, and the global sourcing of materials, antiques, and artworks. Every detail was drawn. Every prototype was reviewed. The project was, in the most literal sense, made by hand.

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