Dezeen Magazine

The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten

The Green Miracle is a Berlin flat featuring colour-block cabinetry and an indoor swing

Sage-green storage closets and a swing seat are among the quirky details in this renovated 19th-century apartment in Berlin, designed by local studio Club Marginal Architekten.

The Green Miracle is located in the city's buzzing Schöneberg district, in a residential block built in 1899. The 90-square-metre flat had been an empty shell for years, but has now been transformed into a contemporary home for a couple and their two young daughters.

The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten

Club Marginal Architekten focused the renovation on providing the family with more space for them to keep their belongings.

A full-height, sage-coloured storage unit was built into the space framing the apartment's entrance, incorporating cupboards, drawers and open shelves. The same shade of green was also applied to the floor, in a technique known as colour-blocking.

The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten

"We just loved the colour and wanted to make clear that these areas have different functions to the rest of the flat," Sebastian Filla, an architect at the studio, told Dezeen.

Green also features in the bathroom, where the shower cubicle is lined in olive-hued tiles.

The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten

Colours throughout the rest of the apartment are more neutral, allowing the green to stand out further.

In the kitchen, walls are white and paired with pale grey cabinetry. There are just a few splashes of colour – from the patterned tiles that line the wall behind the worktop, to the red surface of the kitchen table.

The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten

The space also features a breakfast island that doubles up as a bench seat, along with the swing suspended from the ceiling.

A slate-coloured sofa furnishes the adjacent living area, in addition to a cherry-red floor lamp, a Persian-style rug and wood-burning stove.

The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten

Keen to preserve some of the building's historic decor details, the architects have restored the original parquet flooring in the playroom.

"[The floors] create a stark contrast to the green area and thereby emphasise the spacious and well-lit rooms," explained the team.

The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten

This room also has a play nook, accessed via a short set of stairs with integrated shelves where the kids can display some of their toys. Other permanent fixtures are kept to a minimum, so that the space can easily be turned into two separate bedrooms when the children get older.

Other examples of homes that feature colour-blocking include a flat in Barcelona, featuring a tall blue storage unit and a bathroom contained in a coral-pink arched volume, and a London home with kitchen cabinets in three different shades.

Photography is by Anastasia Hermann.

More images and plans

The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten
Floor plan
The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten
Axonometric drawing
The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten
The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten
The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten
The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten
The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten
The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten
The Green Miracle apartment by Club Marginal Architekten