19th-century miller’s house

Hamburg studio Asdfg Architekten  converted a 19th-century miller’s house in Berlin into a contemporary home for a family. The historical significance of the building was a big challenge, but the design team also saw a high potential for it to become a unique single family house with a garden in the center of one of the most popular neighbourhoods of Berlin.

As it is the oldest building of Prenzlauer Berg, the authorities requested to the architects to reconstruct the facade of the heritage-protected building precisely as depicted in a historical drawing from 1844. In doing so they wanted to show the history of the old building without pretending that the facade would be 170 years old.

As a result of the previous uses as a police station and a workshop, followed by many years of vacancy, the house was in bad condition with many small rooms. In order to create a generous space, Asdfg Architekten only kept the outer walls and one large wall in the middle and injected the new build within. The result is a magnificent contrast of textures and tone.