in progress

Designing Stillness in the Center of the City
This project began with a kitchen. Years later, it became a full-floor apartment in a Herzog & de Meuron building—and the client came back with one request:
“Make me feel at home in something this open.”
The apartment is vast: a sixth-floor fusion of two units, 3.5m ceilings, panoramic light. But the goal wasn’t to emphasize its scale. It was to build a sanctuary—a spatial cradle in the middle of Berlin.
The Core: Shelter Inside a Shell
At the center of the plan sits a sculptural block—containing a guest bathroom, bar, laundry, and storage—finished in a warm mineral plaster that recalls hand-shaped clay. It references both the tactile memory of old-world craftsmanship and the client’s early life in New York. Three gentle arches form a bar that nods to the first skyscrapers.
From this block, the apartment unfolds.
Wooden paneling frames circulation and defines rooms without cutting space apart. Every surface—from oak to terrazzo to steel—was selected for feeling, not fashion. Nothing shouts. But everything is precise.
Design Tactics
• Spatial Zoning: Central block anchors the layout; all rooms orbit around it
• Material System: Concrete, plaster, oak, terrazzo, steel—balanced in tone, divergent in texture
• Cultural Reference: New York history meets Berlin context
• Joinery as Architecture: All millwork uses exposed joinery and handmade systems—no flatpack aesthetics
• Custom Kitchen: A terrazzo island anchors the social core, integrating gradient stone tones that echo the rest of the space
This is not an apartment that performs. It receives. It shelters.

The Process Was the Project
The design didn’t happen in a sprint. It unfolded over years—an ongoing conversation between life changes, emotional shifts, and functional clarity. What started as a lofty New York investor dream had to evolve into a home that feels safe, intimate, and permanent.
“I had to abandon a dozen of my ideas to serve what he actually needed. But in doing that, I designed something better than I ever imagined.”
“A home is the cradle of the soul. - This is that.
RENDERS - TOMASZ BUDNICKI
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