In 1870, hardware merchant Friedrich Wilhelm Lademann acquired the Wallstraße property and immediately began construction on a four-storey mixed-use building. The following year, he expanded by purchasing the adjacent plot and building another residential complex. From the street, the two structures read as separate homes, but their terraced rear design creates a unified, harmonious composition. The ground floor originally housed Lademann's hardware showrooms in soaring, studio-like spaces and a remarkable hall. Four ornate cast-iron columns support the impressive hall, which rises 5.4 metres and features a mezzanine gallery. The first floor above contained the company's office.

The hall has experienced a varied history, most recently serving as an event venue in the years following reunification. Listed as a protected monument, it received approval in 2019 for adaptive reuse: a gallery and café occupy the ground floor hall, while office space sits below. The former office building has been reimagined as a generous residential loft. Tasked with the restoration, the architects faced a derelict space whose original atmosphere and character needed to be recovered. They retained and carefully restored every surviving element—including a once-destroyed spiral staircase, now rebuilt to reconnect visitors with the hall. Working closely with the Heritage Authority, the color palette was developed from original paint traces on walls and ceilings. All technical interventions were designed with restraint, respecting the building's historic integrity. A meeting room with steel-and-glass walls was inserted at mezzanine level, while new steel stairs now bridge the basement and gallery. The result preserves two nearly intact, historically significant spaces for public use: the section facing Wallstraße functions as a café, while the Spree-facing side opens as a gallery and business lounge.

www.haus-architekten.de

Photography Credits:

haus.architekten

(Published in CUBE Berlin 02|23)