Restoration and precision
Conversion, modernization and change of use of an existing villa from the 1920s in Berlin-Dahlem into the residence of the Royal Danish Embassy. As a representative office of the Danish Ambassador, the house was converted into a residence, thus continuing its original usage structure. In the sense of a careful restoration, the historical statement was made more precise and smoothed, while at the same time the house was given a new expression by superimposing contemporary elements. Proportion and structure are decisively varied by the new orangery and abstract roof structures. The dominant as well as monolithic gesture of the house is enriched by transparency and layering.
Transparent extension
In 1998, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Denmark acquired the Sternberg Country House to create a residence for the Danish ambassador. The renovation has began in 1999 and was completed in April 2001. In the process, the entire building was modernized, and the concerns of historic preservation had to be taken into account. Instead of a bay window, the house received an annex as an orangery in the garden, for banquets and receptions.
Art Deco interior
Originally planned at this location by Hermann Muthesius, the property was sold before the design for a country house could be realized. Parts of the garden had already been completed, making it an early example of Ludwig Lesser’s reform garden with a pergola made of precast concrete elements by Muthesius. In 1926, the country house was built by Hermann Karpenstein for the Berlin factory owner Gustav Sternberg. The house, together with the garden, was listed as a historical monument in 1995. One of the most important interiors in the Art Deco style in Germany has been partially preserved to the present day.
Project details
Client
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
Location
Berlin-Dahlem
Building volume
1,200 sqm GFA
Status
Completion 2002
Architect
Patrik Dierks, Ralf Kunze, Andreas Oevermann
Photos
Simone Rosenberg
