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    Copper & Coal

    For the renovation and extension of a semi-detached house from the 1930s in Berlin, and for the façade of its outbuilding, we experimented with different materials and with the processes that alter them.

    The dormer is clad in copper. The metal reacts with oxygen, and its patina keeps shifting over the years. The outbuilding works the other way round: its timber façade was treated with an archaic burning process. Shou sugi ban, the old Japanese wood finishing technique, protects the wood from weathering and holds any further change at bay. A façade treated this way lasts 80 to 100 years without maintenance.

    Inside, the patina of the brass-clad wall behind the cooker changes with daily cooking, steaming and frying. The fine cracks in the existing terrazzo floor are filled with gold powder. The traces of use are inscribed in the building.

    Copper & Coal follows as many of these processes as possible. The materials and objects tell a story and show the traces of production, use and age.

    Project Info

    Status
    completed

    Year
    2019–2023

    Location
    Berlin, DE
    TYPE
    commission

    category
    building

    client
    private

    Team
    Natascha Peinsipp, Felix Steinhoff

    Copper-clad dormer on the tiled roof of a 1930s house in Berlin, seen from the garden at dusk asphalt kollektiv
    Three boards bound into a chimney, flames rising from the top, held by a gloved hand asphalt kollektiv
    Two people holding the burning timber chimney upright between trees at dusk, sparks flying asphalt kollektiv
    Copper & Coal: renovation and extension of a 1930s house in Berlin, with a copper dormer, a charred timber façade and surfaces that change with use. asphalt kollektiv
    Water from a garden hose quenching the charred boards, the burnt surface still glowing along the edges asphalt kollektiv
    Charred boards stacked next to untreated ones, the contrast between black crust and raw timber asphalt kollektiv
    Close-up of the charred cladding: the crackled, alligator-skin surface produced by the burn asphalt kollektiv
    Exploded isometric drawing of the house: roof structure lifted off, extension and outbuilding below asphalt kollektiv
    Outbuilding clad in charred black timber boards, with a glazed corner opening to the garden asphalt kollektiv
    Site plan showing the semi-detached house marked in black among the surrounding suburban plots asphalt kollektiv
    Detail of the charred timber cladding, its grain raised by the burning process asphalt kollektiv
    Construction work on the exposed foundations: timber props and beams supporting the masonry asphalt kollektiv
    Interior during construction: stripped walls, a widened opening and machinery on the floor asphalt kollektiv
    Historic black-and-white photographs found on the building site, lying on a floorboard next to a folding rule asphalt kollektiv
    asphalt kollektiv
    asphalt kollektiv

    Copper & Coal

    For the renovation and extension of a semi-detached house from the 1930s in Berlin, and for the façade of its outbuilding, we experimented with different materials and with the processes that alter them.

    The dormer is clad in copper. The metal reacts with oxygen, and its patina keeps shifting over the years. The outbuilding works the other way round: its timber façade was treated with an archaic burning process. Shou sugi ban, the old Japanese wood finishing technique, protects the wood from weathering and holds any further change at bay. A façade treated this way lasts 80 to 100 years without maintenance.

    Inside, the patina of the brass-clad wall behind the cooker changes with daily cooking, steaming and frying. The fine cracks in the existing terrazzo floor are filled with gold powder. The traces of use are inscribed in the building.

    Copper & Coal follows as many of these processes as possible. The materials and objects tell a story and show the traces of production, use and age.

    Project Info

    Status
    completed

    Year
    2019–2023

    Location
    Berlin, DE
    TYPE
    commission

    category
    building

    client
    private

    Team
    Natascha Peinsipp, Felix Steinhoff

    Three boards bound into a chimney, flames rising from the top, held by a gloved hand asphalt kollektiv
    Two people holding the burning timber chimney upright between trees at dusk, sparks flying asphalt kollektiv
    Copper & Coal: renovation and extension of a 1930s house in Berlin, with a copper dormer, a charred timber façade and surfaces that change with use. asphalt kollektiv
    Water from a garden hose quenching the charred boards, the burnt surface still glowing along the edges asphalt kollektiv
    Charred boards stacked next to untreated ones, the contrast between black crust and raw timber asphalt kollektiv
    Close-up of the charred cladding: the crackled, alligator-skin surface produced by the burn asphalt kollektiv
    Exploded isometric drawing of the house: roof structure lifted off, extension and outbuilding below asphalt kollektiv
    Outbuilding clad in charred black timber boards, with a glazed corner opening to the garden asphalt kollektiv
    Site plan showing the semi-detached house marked in black among the surrounding suburban plots asphalt kollektiv
    Detail of the charred timber cladding, its grain raised by the burning process asphalt kollektiv
    Construction work on the exposed foundations: timber props and beams supporting the masonry asphalt kollektiv
    Interior during construction: stripped walls, a widened opening and machinery on the floor asphalt kollektiv
    Historic black-and-white photographs found on the building site, lying on a floorboard next to a folding rule asphalt kollektiv