Meisterstück Berlin-Dahlem: Tradition, stylistic assurance, and quality are the characteristics embodied by the spectacular villas in the ensemble Meisterstück. Built in 1909, and painstakingly renovated since 2017, the exquisite, historic features will be fully restored and the two villas become home to 17 individual high-end apartments.
Interior designer Sibel Huhn is responsible for the personal design statements.
Mrs. Huhn, the apartments in Dahlem are located in a historically protected monument from the turn-of-the-century. To what extent does the exterior appearance influence the interior architecture and design?
Of course you always are in awe of this architecture. Due to the features of the rooms in these turn-of-the-century buildings, an interior designer´s heart simply skips a beat. The vastness, the heights - this is a huge playground for a group of talented interior designers, who are familiar with spacious environments.
How do your ideas and the customers’ expectations inform each other?
My team and I concentrate on the characteristics of each individual apartment and in the preliminary planning phase make a harmonious, coherent selection. Therefore, there are no standard furnishings, but rather an individualized combination of floors, wall surfaces, colors and furniture, kitchens and bathrooms that are in accordance with our vision. To furnish an apartment is always a process. In collaboration with our clients the idea shapes into an overall interior concept with furnished spaces in which the residents can find ease and comfort.
What trends do you recognize in the design wishes of your customers?
The biggest changes can be found in the kitchens, which have now become the main focus of the apartments and the center of self-representation. The focus shifted from the living room to a combined kitchen/living room. It has become more of a safe haven for families. This is a cultural change and most of my clients prefer it. Food is no longer prepared and then served - no, everyone is cooking together, drinking a glass of wine and chatting. This pattern has revolutionized the kitchen design, from the freestanding kitchen block to the integrated fireplace, from the most valuable materials to the large attached dining area.
Which materials do you particularly like to use?
The purer, the nicer. The materials have to be genuine! Nothing is as beautiful as what nature creates. For example, I personally love natural stones, really wild marble. Not only does it look elegant, but with proper craftsmanship it is smooth and velvety. Natural stone gives kitchens and bathrooms an outstanding character. I also like to use linen in living rooms – as wallpaper or even in glass sliding doors because it reveals surprising and translucent optics. Velvet and leather also have a very pure presence. However, my most favorite material is bronze: platinized, swaged, polished, brushed – a beautiful metal that ennobles every aspect of interior designing.
Many customers bring their favorite pieces of furniture or art in their new homes. How do you cope with that?
I always contact my clients about their current status and what they wish to bring along. It is always about the proper arrangement: deciding on the positioning is just as important as the surrounding furniture, materials or colors.
Your plans concern even the smallest details: If it is requested, every lamp, every faucet, every light switch can be selected by you.
Even further. We are in love with the details. Each and every workmanship has to be perfect, every shadow gap must be millimeter-exact. This is the aspiration of our interior design office – and the expectations of our clients. Precision is luxury.
Interior designer Sibel Huhn is responsible for the personal design statements.
Mrs. Huhn, the apartments in Dahlem are located in a historically protected monument from the turn-of-the-century. To what extent does the exterior appearance influence the interior architecture and design?
Of course you always are in awe of this architecture. Due to the features of the rooms in these turn-of-the-century buildings, an interior designer´s heart simply skips a beat. The vastness, the heights - this is a huge playground for a group of talented interior designers, who are familiar with spacious environments.
How do your ideas and the customers’ expectations inform each other?
My team and I concentrate on the characteristics of each individual apartment and in the preliminary planning phase make a harmonious, coherent selection. Therefore, there are no standard furnishings, but rather an individualized combination of floors, wall surfaces, colors and furniture, kitchens and bathrooms that are in accordance with our vision. To furnish an apartment is always a process. In collaboration with our clients the idea shapes into an overall interior concept with furnished spaces in which the residents can find ease and comfort.
What trends do you recognize in the design wishes of your customers?
The biggest changes can be found in the kitchens, which have now become the main focus of the apartments and the center of self-representation. The focus shifted from the living room to a combined kitchen/living room. It has become more of a safe haven for families. This is a cultural change and most of my clients prefer it. Food is no longer prepared and then served - no, everyone is cooking together, drinking a glass of wine and chatting. This pattern has revolutionized the kitchen design, from the freestanding kitchen block to the integrated fireplace, from the most valuable materials to the large attached dining area.
Which materials do you particularly like to use?
The purer, the nicer. The materials have to be genuine! Nothing is as beautiful as what nature creates. For example, I personally love natural stones, really wild marble. Not only does it look elegant, but with proper craftsmanship it is smooth and velvety. Natural stone gives kitchens and bathrooms an outstanding character. I also like to use linen in living rooms – as wallpaper or even in glass sliding doors because it reveals surprising and translucent optics. Velvet and leather also have a very pure presence. However, my most favorite material is bronze: platinized, swaged, polished, brushed – a beautiful metal that ennobles every aspect of interior designing.
Many customers bring their favorite pieces of furniture or art in their new homes. How do you cope with that?
I always contact my clients about their current status and what they wish to bring along. It is always about the proper arrangement: deciding on the positioning is just as important as the surrounding furniture, materials or colors.
Your plans concern even the smallest details: If it is requested, every lamp, every faucet, every light switch can be selected by you.
Even further. We are in love with the details. Each and every workmanship has to be perfect, every shadow gap must be millimeter-exact. This is the aspiration of our interior design office – and the expectations of our clients. Precision is luxury.
