Penthouse Extension at Gendarmenmarkt
Max Dudler’s Bewag-Haus building which opened in 1997 on Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt square has been extended by a luxury penthouse conversion with panoramic views over the city.
Almost 20 years after the foundation stone was laid, Max Dudler is extending one of his first inner city residential and commercial projects in Berlin – the Bewag-Haus building on the city’s Gendarmenmarkt square. The roof space with its technical control centre was gutted and replaced by a luxurious, pavilion-like apartment with loft character and panoramic views. The focus of the T-shaped floor layout is the kitchen, serving as the heart of the apartment. An open-plan space connects the representative dining room with a spacious living area.
The attention to detail and use of premium materials adds to an understated and timeless spatial atmosphere. The kitchen unit, for example, is made of hot-rolled steel plates. At the same time, the haptic artisanal effect of the materials sets the sculptural foundation of the apartment. Solid floorboards, with a length of up to 15 metres, emphasise the perspective of the apartment in the direction of the Deutscher Dom (German Cathedral). White marble was chosen as cladding for the shower area: the solid marble slab, a piece of marble cut from a single block, has the maximum possible size. Large windows with elegant narrow frames afford an unobstructed view over the rooftops of Berlin. From the dining room a unique vista opens directly onto the Deutscher Dom , from the living room the view stretches to the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall), the TV Tower and the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral).
All of the apartment’s technical elements are synced and can be controlled automatically. The complex building and security technology is concealed in the white-painted wood panelling of the walls. Two terraces, one west and one east- facing, arranged in a horseshoe shape around the entire living space, perfectly round off the apartment. The façade style of the old building has been continued on the extension’s exterior.
The former Bewag-Haus (also known as Emil-Rathenau-Haus) – prominently located on Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt in the axis of the Deutscher Dom – was one of Max Dudler’s first projects in the city centre of Berlin. In 1997 the residential and commercial building was built on the former site of the oldest power plant of the city. Prior to 1945 the site was part of an upscale urban area: a business and financial district, which still forms the centre point of the Gendarmenmarkt area to this day.
