This Farmhouse Near Berlin Came With a Tenant. The New Owner Renovated Around Them

Houses We Love: Every day we feature a remarkable space submitted by our community of architects, designers, builders, and homeowners. Have one to share? Post it here.

Project Details:

Location: Wandlitz-Lanke, Germany

Architect: Christoph Wagner Architekten

Footprint: 4,090 square feet

Structural Engineer: DBV Ingenieure Berlin

Photographer: Eric Tschernow

From the Architect: "This farmhouse half an hour north of Berlin became the client’s new home and workplace. The agricultural portion of the house was abandoned in the 1950s, and the stable and workshop rooms were converted into four flats. The client decided to keep the remaining tenant in the house and not to alter this flat.

"The remaining areas were remodeled and converted into living and working spaces reoriented towards the surrounding garden. A flat with 1,506 square feet was created on two floors. It was important to the client and the architects to preserve the character of the house. For example, cracks were only repaired where structurally necessary and not for design reasons. Large areas of the building were left untouched.

"The formerly windowless gable wall now lets the morning sun into the house through a large, off-center, round window. The curved brass window plate was shaped in such a way that it elegantly directs the water away from the wood and reflects light deep into the house. The glass pane does not sit in a separate frame, but the cross-laminated timber of the bay window was milled so that the pane could be inserted directly. The round glazing bead was made from brass by a blacksmith and emphasizes the special nature of the location.

"The largest structural intervention in the existing building was the opening in the south façade for the wide terrace window, combined with the ceiling opening for the staircase. The double-shell spandrel masonry of the outer wall is supported above the new window by an externally positioned balcony projection. This made it possible to avoid supports on the inside.

"A new staircase marks the privacy of the upper floor with the side stringer of the upper flight of stairs raised as a privacy screen. This projects into the room from above as a negative form and meets the volume of the two lower flights of stairs at the landing. Demolition bricks were reused as non-load bearing interior walls. The floor structure of glass gravel and regional hemp clay fill did not require any waterproofing membranes. Demolished parquet floors were partially reinstalled.