Program – The Akademie für Malerei and Galerie ROOT in Charlottenburg, Berlin  opened its new premises to the public on September 30th, 2021. The owner wished to relocate her workshop, gallery, studio and storage space to a new building. The rooms on the street act as public gallery space for Galerie ROOT, while the rooms to the rear support the private painting school. Along the interior axis, some interior walls were demolished and new partitions were put in place to improve the connection between all working and storage spaces. The ceiling roses, moldings and some doors were preserved due to their historical and aesthetic value.

Spatial Layers – Our design intervention deals with the organisation and overlapping of spatial layers and is achieved by combining function with aesthetics. The layers are emphasised with varying transparent, semi-transparent and closed division walls. One of these is the custom-made polycarbonate door that creates a flexible division between the front gallery spaces and the workshop spaces behind. Due to the depth of the building and the limited possibility to let in natural light, the design for this partition is partially transparent, with a clerestory window above. In this way, the rooms behind borrow natural light from the street façade. Additionally, the light concept emphasises the continuity of space from the front gallery towards the rear workshop spaces.

Hanging Shelves – We designed a timber shelving system that will over time be filled with student art work and class material. Its light, hanging structure makes use of the high ceiling space for storage without interfering with valuable workshop space. The timber batten structure also creates divisions to organise paintings and canvases. In this way, the shelves become both a functional and aesthetic design element.

Architects: Jens Brinkmann
Collaborators: Duc Minh Le, Tuang Anh Nguyen, Jerome Schloh, Cédric Razanakoto