This graveyard is a corner site in Weissensee, bordering the Jüdischer Friedhof. Its wild, unkempt forest-like expanse offers respite, a momentary escape from the city.

Multiple apartments await transformation within. The client desires rentable spaces infused with quality yet is mindful of budget and potential renter diversity.

Existing parameters become the framework for a simple composition. Gypsum board, oak flooring, tiles, and a standard kitchen form the palette. Expression emerges from two-dimensional layouts and three-dimensional sculpting. Structural beams, pipes, and level changes, remnants of the building’s past, are revealed and concealed through gypsum board cladding and spatial arrangement.

The result: spaces imbued with a quiet presence, a subtle echo of the wildness beyond the walls.

Architect: ALLEN KAUFMANN Architekten

Photography: Justin Allen and Yuzhu Zheng

Images and drawings of the space before our renovation.