The Sapphire (Chau 43) residential development brought Daniel Libeskind back to Berlin for his first residential project in the city. The project, located on a busy corner in the Mitte neighborhood in central Berlin, transformed a derelict, diminutive and seemingly unusable site into landmark residences.

The design carves out 73 one- to four-bedroom apartments on a plot measuring less than half an acre. Studio Libeskind incorporated large angular windows and canted walls that bring in natural light and invoke a feeling of spaciousness. Atop the roof and visible above the façade is the upward sweep of a double-height glass ceiling: inside, a penthouse with sloping glass walls and access to a roof patio overlooks the City of Berlin.

The three-dimensional, geometric-patterned stoneware tile adorning the façade is another design signature.  Designed by Daniel Libeskind for Casalgrande Padana, the panels are technologically advanced to self-clean and aid in air purification.

With retail shops on the ground floor, underground parking, and a common outdoor area, this high-spirited, contemporary complex stands on land where the Wulffersche iron factory once operated, before being expropriated from its Jewish owners during World War II.

Sapphire was completed in 2017.

“Celebrated for the dramatic, bold architectural angles … Libeskind executes these complex ideas on a smaller scale to equal effect for Chausseestrasse [Sapphire].”
– Interior Design Magazine, 2013

AWARDS
2018 – Architizer Award, Special Mention
2018 – Ceramics of Italy Tile, Commercial Award