CARLO Design plans and renovates bathrooms in apartments and houses across Berlin. Before we choose tiles and fittings, we check the pipework, waterproofing and floor build-up, because they decide what the room allows. Then we draw every wall at 1:20 and run the plumbers, electricians and tilers through to the final inspection.
Per square metre, the bathroom is the most expensive room in a renovation. Waterproofing, water and drainage, tiling, sanitaryware, electrics and ventilation all meet in a few metres, and each trade builds on the one before. Whatever sits behind the tiles is hard to change later.
Berlin’s Altbau buildings add questions of their own: timber joist floors, old pipework and risers that belong to the communal property. In A Luminous Leaf, an Altbau apartment in Wilmersdorf, an oval tub now stands beneath a leaf-shaped window, next to an Art Deco shower with herringbone tiles. With a bathroom like that, the survey comes first and the choice of tiles later.
Whether a bathroom stays watertight for years depends on waterproofing, pipework and floor build-up. You will not see any of it later, so we plan it first.
We check where water and drainage run, how the floor is built up and how the room is ventilated. That tells us whether a level-access shower is possible, whether fittings can move and where we should open up before costing.
What an Altbau renovation costsEvery wall at 1:20, every tile and fitting specified, light at the mirror and above the tub planned in. You see natural stone, hand-glazed tiles or brass as samples beforehand.
Plan your bathroomPlumbing, electrics, waterproofing, tiling and underfloor heating work in the right order to a schedule that we run. We have known our tilers, stonemasons and metalworkers for years.
Construction management in BerlinA bespoke bathroom typically takes three to six months from the first design to handover. Most surprises can be avoided in the first few weeks.
An estimate based on assumptions is a common source of extras. Where the condition is unclear, we recommend opening up before we name a cost framework.
Risers belong to the communal property. Touching them needs a resolution of the owners’ association, and that belongs early in the schedule.
A shower without a step needs a fall and depth in the floor. Over timber joist floors we check this before we draw it into the design.
Task light at the mirror, warm light over the tub and ventilation that reliably removes moisture. Adding them later means cutting into finished walls.
Natural stone, glazed tiles and brass that gathers patina get better with use. We choose surfaces by how they will look in ten years.
In a full renovation we advise against it. If there is a second bathroom and only one is being renovated, staying in the apartment is often possible.
Then four short questions. We reply within one working day, with no obligation. We speak English, German and Spanish.
Across our two studios, most of our new work comes through recommendations from past clients. 5.0 stars on Google, 5 reviews for our Berlin studio.
"After speaking with them, I knew I didn't need to look elsewhere. Thrilled with the result, highly recommend."
"They gave us excellent advice and ensured smooth implementation with their craftsmen."
"They quickly grasped my taste, found the perfect products, and arranged appointments."
"Tell us about your property, your timeline, what you are hoping for. We will come to you, listen, and present a concept and a realistic cost estimate, before you commit to anything."
We come to you · One project slot remaining for autumn 2026
