three massive domed lamps take over FAR's apartment rungestrasse in berlin

converting a 1930s office space into Apartment Rungestrasse

Architecture studio FAR frohn&rojas has transformed part of a former office building from the early 1930s into the unusual Apartment Rungestrasse in Berlin, Germany. Set within a neutral backdrop, the converted workspace appears as a collage of white blocks and rhythmic architectural details and patterns — from rails and shelves to storage cabins and lighting fixtures. Completing the residential project are three massive and sculptural domed lamps.

all images © Tobias Wootton

FAR preserves the original plan’s spaciousness

The start of the project proved quite tricky, forcing the team at FAR to confront the challenge of maintaining the spaciousness that the original open plan had to offer and refrain from subdividing it into a series of isolated rooms. As such, the first architectural element introduced to Apartment Rungestrasse is a ‘shelf’ featuring five bays and two levels. Each bay houses an individual environment: an entry zone, a cooking area, a workspace, a bathroom, a reading nook, a sleeping loft, among other things. Meandering around the shelf leads to the apartment bedroom.

Apartment Rungestrasse is a converted workspace from the 1930s

incorporating three massive domed lamps in the space

FAR also introduces three massive domed lamps to the converted office space, each spanning three meters in diameter and boasting a distinct color and design. All three hang right above head-height and zone the remaining open space of Apartment Rungestrasse. To design these hanging ‘domes’, lead architects Marc Frohn and Mario Rojas Toledo sought inspiration from historical architectural precedents: the iconic Pantheon in Rome, the großes Schauspielhaus in Berlin, and the Geodesic Dome by Buckminster Fuller.

creating a neutral backdrop for the design