As the headline suggests, everything about this penthouse overlooking Berlin's rooftops pushes beyond the ordinary. The challenge: transforming a sprawling 400 m² attic apartment – a maze of small, compartmentalized rooms – into a contemporary, loft-style open-plan residence for its new owners. Jan Ulmer Architects approached this with audacious creativity. Their first decisive move was radical: removing every non-load-bearing wall that had fragmented the space into cramped segments. What remained was a striking, elongated L-shaped open floor plan – a blank canvas awaiting architectural vision. Jan Ulmer's conceptual backbone became the "city within a house." Like an urban wanderer, residents navigate through their own domestic landscape, moving through distinct zones – each with its own purpose. Existing infrastructure dictated practical constraints: plumbing determined bathroom and kitchen placement, while three pre-existing terraces became anchoring points for the layout. New skylights flood the interior with natural light. The front section flows as a continuous open sequence, while the rear reinterprets the original corridor typology into meandering pathways created by freestanding "structures" within the space. Between them runs the "street" – a transitional zone where one passes cafés, lounges, shops, and retreats. Public and private zones are clearly orchestrated: as you move deeper inward, the atmosphere shifts toward intimacy. The rear zones are devoted entirely to relaxation and rest.

Walking through this sprawling "megacity apartment," raw brick walls punctuate the journey, reinforcing the industrial urban aesthetic. Custom-built storage solutions – boxes, cabinets, alcoves – line the route, some concealing bathrooms and utilities behind sliding doors. The showstopper: a striking kitchen co-created with Berlin artist Claudia Wieser. A sculptural composition of a functional kitchen block paired with half-height storage, its back wall erupts in vibrant mosaic tilework – a pattern echoed on the unit itself. The rear section, described as the intimate private sanctuary, can be sealed off as a self-contained apartment, complete with its own kitchen and facilities. This mirroring of materials and finishes creates visual continuity, sparking moments of recognition as you move through the space. And so concludes a remarkable journey through this bold, exhilarating "urban home."

www.janulmer.de

Photography Credits:

Mikael Olsson
www.mikaelolsson.se

(Published in CUBE Berlin 04|23)