Berlin Wave Apartments, Modern City Riverfront Homes, Large German Real Estate Project Photos

Wave Apartments in Berlin

Contemporary Residential Architecture in Germany on Stralauer Allee design by GRAFT architects

post updated 17 August 2025

Architects: GRAFT Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH

Location: Stralauer Allee 13/14, Berlin, Germany

Photos © BTTR GmbH

6 Nov 2019

Wave Apartments Berlin Riverfront

By not building along the waterfront and pairing the inner side wings, the two buildings, that make up the Wave Apartments development, form a continuous architectural figure. The elongated facade frontage ensures that each apartment has a view over the water and sun from the south.

The soft curving lines of the south-facing elevation give the facade a sculptural, eroded amorphous figure that echoes the narrative qualities of its waterside location in the building’s fluid architectural form. The design of the ensemble springs from this conceptual idea as well as its accommodation of the social requirements of the neighbourhood.

The north facing elevation presents a contrasting facade to the urban grain of the quarter that picks up the clear rectangular geometry of the turn-of-the-century Gründerzeit buildings along the Stralauer Allee. Bay windows to the north enhance the apartments’ floor plans and afford views of Berlin’s iconic Fernsehturm.

Modern City Riverfront Homes on Stralauer Allee

The resulting geometric articulation of the facade mediates between the urban street facade and the open, sculptural quality of the waterfront.

The two residential buildings incorporate a range of apartment types and sizes to create a stimulating and diverse social mix appropriate to the potential target groups and the location. Alongside studio and 1½ room apartments at sizes of 27 m² to 40 m², there are also 2-5 room apartments with floor areas ranging from 44 m² to 156 m².

Apartments with private gardens are located on the mezzanine level, with luxury 206 to 296 m² penthouses with own private roof gardens on the top floor. The majority of apartments have bay windows and balconies facing in different directions.

The roof is conceived as a “fifth facade” for communal use with rooftop allotment gardens, terraces and playgrounds for both public and private-communal activities. The green courtyard gardens in the communal forecourt adjoining the waterside promenade create an open, green space in the heart of the city in which residents and neighbours can come together.

Wave Apartments, Berlin – Building Information

Architects: GRAFT

Founding partners: Lars Krückeberg, Wolfram Putz, Thomas Willemeit
Project design: Marvin Bratke, Arne Wegner
Project lead: Annette Finke
Project team: Alexandra Bunescu, Evgenia Dimopoulou, Sven Fuchs, Clemens Hochreiter, Christine Huber, Javier Nieto Cano, Andrea Perle, Matthias Rümmele, Elena Suarez, Alexandra Tobescu, Maike Wienmeier, Anna Wittwer

About GRAFT
GRAFT was founded in 1998 in Los Angeles by Lars Krueckeberg, Wolfram Putz and Thomas Willemeit. With additional studios in Berlin and Beijing, the hybrid office works around the globe in the fields of architecture, urban development, design and communications and is known for its experimental and multi-disciplinary design approach.

Since its founding, the office has undertaken self-initiated projects alongside design commissions, including the SOLARKIOSK and its work as a founding partner of the Make It Right Foundation and with Heimat2. In 2014, GRAFT’s partners founded GRAFT Brandlab together with Linda Stannieder, a communications agency working at the intersection of architecture, design and branding. GRAFT comprises an interdisciplinary team of 150 employees.