Vorderhaus, Lausitzer Quartier, Berlin

Part of an intriguing residential development, the Vorderhaus is a Bel Étage apartment in the atmospheric Berlin district of Kreuzberg just around the corner from the Landwehrkanal. Overlooking the maple trees and historic Altbau facades of Lausitzer Straße, the Gründerzeit building is more than a century old and retains many of its original features.

The interior design concept pays homage to the design of the building itself. MVP carefully curated each element to be in harmony with the original character of the existing architecture. The main surfaces are bright, warm nuances of greige – a mixture of grey and beige – such as the wall paint, white-washed herringbone parquetry flooring and sandy stone-washed linen curtains.

Across this bright palette are darker, strongly contrasting gestures, such as a massive dark-stained wooden dining table, thin black steel reading lamps and a black-textured, diamond-shaped painting, as well as smaller contrasting artworks.