The Green Box / Ester Bruzkus Architekten

closed

It was raw and cool and open - and there was something nice about that to hold onto in the new design. So rather than create a series of conventional rooms that would close off the sense of openness, a single millwork box was positioned away from the walls to make rooms between it and the existing walls.The box, lacquered in a deep green, works with warm gold violets and brown tones to play off the cool concrete ceiling and wall, contrasting materials and colors, and carefully crafted details to make a home that is at once cool and cozy.Before Ester Bruzkus Architekten transformed the top-floor apartment into a cozy home for aBerlincouple living a vegan lifestyle, the empty apartment had floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides and exposed concrete walls on the other sides.Text description provided by the architects.The apartment uses strong colors, natural materials, precise planning, contrasts of cool and warm – and a few surprises. By locating a single but complex green millwork box at the center of the long apartment, circulation can flow around all sides and the design makes the most of existing material conditions. The palette of rich colors and materials contrasts with neutral raw concrete walls and ceilings to harmonize cool and warm.