Project Details
Location: Steglitz, Berlin
Project Scope:
– altbau
– bathroom renovation
– hardwood floor refinishing
– plumbing renovation
– modern heating system
– new electrical system

Some renovation projects are straightforward. Others feel like a battle. And then there are the ones that turn into something more than just a job—they become a story. This attic renovation in Berlin was exactly that.

Before the Renovation

From day one, we knew it wouldn’t be simple. The attic had layers upon layers of old repairs, patchwork solutions, and materials dating back decades. It started with demolition. We thought it would be a few days of clearing out the usual. In the end, we hauled out nearly 20 tons of construction waste. Ceilings had been doubled with wooden understructures and decorative Styropor panels. The floors were layered too: linoleum over subfloors, hiding a gem underneath—original wooden planks, still in good shape, ready to be brought back to life.

Then came the surprise in the living room: an elevated platform that turned out to be hiding a forgotten space, filled with roof construction debris from decades past. We cleared it out, opened the roof above it, added proper insulation, and gave the apartment an extra 6 square meters of usable space.

And just when we felt we were gaining momentum, we hit a serious pause. A strange material appeared during demolition. It looked like asbestos. We sealed off the room, called in specialists, and stopped everything. Thankfully, the tests came back clear—no asbestos. But we lost valuable time, and a reminder: in old buildings, you can never assume.

There was also friction from the outside. From day one, we had noise complaints, requests to stop, and even legal threats from neighbours. It made scheduling and workflow harder than it needed to be. Still, we stayed calm, professional, and focused on moving forward.

Even the original architectural plans couldn’t be trusted. Some walls shown as load-bearing were barely 8 cm thick. Others were missing entirely. Our architects spent days in the archives trying to make sense of the structure. Only after everything was double-checked and confirmed could we take the next steps.

While navigating all of this, we began rebuilding the entire technical infrastructure:

• A new electrical system: every cable, every socket, a new fuse box, and a dedicated electric meter.

• A complete plumbing renovation, with all pipes and drainage lines newly installed.

• A modern heating system, intentionally kept without underfloor heating to maintain the Altbau character.

• Original hardwood flooring boards were sanded and oiled, and in areas where the old floor couldn’t be saved, we carefully replaced it with matching planks.

Throughout the project, we worked closely with two architects, a statics engineer, and other specialists. Every wall opening, beam, and design detail was calculated, approved, and done the right way.

The bathroom was another major chapter. After planking the separation wall between apartments and upgrading it to a fire-protection wall, we began the full bathroom renovation. It came out beautifully—functional, modern, and seamlessly integrated into the rest of the space.

The doors and windows? We kept them. But every single one was sanded, painted, and brought back to life. One of our favorite details: a sliding door, fully recessed into the left side wall of the kitchen, with a push-to-open system – discreet, functional, and elegant.

In the small rooms, we laid hardwood parquet flooring, elegant and warm, paired with classic Berlin-style sockets to give the space that familiar Altbau touch. The walls were all plastered and smoothed, and the entire apartment got a new drywall ceiling to hide infrastructure while keeping clean lines throughout.