An apartment, treated as a text
An apartment is not a set of square meters. It is the spatial translation of a life — its routines, its objects, the things its inhabitants return to. Our practice begins not with the material library, but with the question of who lives here, how the day unfolds, what the rooms should hold.
From that, we develop spatial concepts that have a position rather than a trend. Material quality, light, custom joinery and a curated selection of furniture from international manufacturers and design classics carry the work. Where a client wants this direction documented before committing to a full renovation, we offer it as a standalone Mood & Material Concept.
Why international clients hire us
Most of our English-speaking clients come to us for a specific reason: they want a German Innenarchitektur studio that can run the project end to end, but they need to discuss it in English. Joshua Lux is registered as Innenarchitekt with the Architektenkammer Hessen (akh) and the bdia — the German professional body — which means we are qualified to submit Bauanträge, file with the Denkmalbehörde, and act as your representative against trades and authorities.
We handle the HOAI framework, the Handwerker network, the German construction culture, and the paperwork that comes with it. You see English drawings, English specifications, English meeting notes. The contractors see German documents.
What apartment design looks like, in practice
A full apartment project usually means rethinking the floor plan. Walls move, kitchens shift, bathrooms are rebuilt from the substrate up. Lighting is planned as architecture, not as a final layer. Custom joinery — wardrobes, kitchens, vanities, library walls — is drawn by us and built by a small group of cabinetmakers we have worked with for years.
The work covers concept, construction documents, tender, site supervision and handover. We are on site weekly during construction, hold a fixed jour fixe with the trades, and review every invoice before it is paid.
The Rhein-Main context
The region is unusually layered. Westend in Frankfurt holds some of the finest Gründerzeit buildings in Germany. Wiesbaden's historic center is almost entirely pre-war, much of it under heritage protection. Mainz combines medieval substance with post-war reconstruction. Around all three sit modern penthouse developments along the river, where the brief shifts toward high-end living and material substance.
An apartment in this context is almost never a blank slate. It comes with stucco ceilings that have to be respected, original parquet that should be saved, or a structural grid from the 1960s that has to be worked around. That is the work.
Selected references
THE COLLECTORS APARTMENT — 130 m² Altbau apartment in Wiesbaden, rebuilt around a private collection. PENTHOUSE D150 — 150 m² penthouse, awarded Best of Interior. HAUS D7 — split-level house near Mainz, awarded Best of Interior.
For historic substance specifically, see our Altbau renovation page. German-speaking clients may prefer the deutschsprachige Residential-Seite.
How we price the work
Our reference framework is the HOAI — the German federal honorarium ordinance for architecture and interior design. In practice we work on a day-rate basis or with a fixed fee per service phase, agreed in writing after the first meeting. There are no hidden margins on furniture, materials or trades; procurement is invoiced transparently.
