25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin has celebrated its 11th birthday and the completion of its renovation works.
Having started in November 2024, the renovation was entrusted to Studio Aisslinger, the firm responsible for the hotel’s initial design development.
The renovation has seen fundamental changes to the hotel’s public areas, including a refreshed third floor which features the newly-opened Nomad Day Bar, a popular offering amongst locals during the day, featuring a large new community table and various work areas available.
In the evening, a cosy area around the corner from the reception is transformed into a wine bar in the heart of the neighbourhood, complete with a fireplace and hammocks, offering an alternative to the lively atmosphere in the Monkey Bar on the 10th floor.
All 22 large urban and large jungle rooms have also been given a completely new look. In line with the changed room concept, the bed has been moved to the centre of the room and, thanks to its frontal orientation, now offers views of the Tiergarten or City West.
All large rooms also have their own library, a wooden capsule which not only offers a cosy retreat and invites guests to read and relax, but also underlines the 25hours Hotels’ connection to all things analogue.
Designer Werner Aisslinger explains how the new elements came about: “Everyone involved is naturally keen to maintain the hotel’s cult status and ensure that design optimisations and new concepts keep it as unique and popular as ever. Our latest design interventions play with the contrast between the rough exterior of the building and the cosy corners that have been added.
“Innovative fabrics from JAB have been used, along with sustainable upcycled building materials such as natural bricks, upcycled cork and rattan, as well as mirrored surfaces that reflect the city and the Tiergarten into the rooms.
“Collaborations such as with MOROSO for the new Coworking Bikini Lounge and unexpected collectible Aisslinger design pieces such as a 4-metre-long lamp made of kilim carpets give the 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin its beloved experience character.”
In addition to the large rooms, all medium rooms – including medium jungle, medium urban and medium urban twin – have been renovated and fitted with a modern lighting concept. Light sources have been integrated into the mirrors and new swivel lamps have been installed.
Special attention was also paid to the renovation of the bathrooms – as well as new tiles and brighter but cosier lighting in the bathrooms, an upcycling project was carried out in collaboration with Kaldewei.
For the first time in the history of the premium manufacturer of high-quality bathroom solutions, the hotel’s disused shower trays and bathtubs were recycled, technically and visually upgraded and then reinstalled in the renovated bathrooms of the 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin, demonstrating how a genuine circular economy can work in the construction and project business.
“With this project, we are showing that the circular economy is not a concept for tomorrow, but can be successfully implemented today,” explains Jakob Klingenberg, Key Account Manager Project Management at Kaldewei. “As a pioneer in the industry, we are sending out a clear message: durable products can remain valuable even at the end of their useful life – and can actually be reused as refurbished products.”
Kaldewei bathtubs and Superplan showers have been used in the bathrooms of the 25hours Hotel in Berlin for over 10 years. As part of a renovation, existing shower surfaces and baths were dismantled, returned to Kaldewei and completely refurbished using a specially developed, multi-stage upcycling process.
The products were provided with the anti-slip surface ‘Kaldewei Secure Plus’, a special enamel which increases stability under the shower and provides additional safety for guests and the hotel owner.
In addition, the upcycling project produced around 65% less CO2 than the manufacture of new bathroom products, fitting in perfectly with the philosophy of the hotel. Following successful upcycling, the renovated guest bathrooms fit seamlessly back into the hotel’s visionary overall design while offering an even higher level of safety.
The project demonstrates a first for the bathroom sector, with no other manufacturer having ever implemented a comparable initiative on this scale. With this pilot project, Kaldewei is proving that high-quality and durable products do not have to be disposed of at the end of their first life cycle, but can even be reused in an optimised way.
Raising the shower surfaces to a new level of safety though their Secure Plus enamelling emphasises the transformative power of upcycling and opens up completely new perspectives for the construction industry.
“The hotel development industry still has many opportunities to become more environmentally friendly,” says Margaux Verbeeck, Project Manager at KNSA Hospitality. “The success of this story at the 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin is a step in the right direction and hopefully the start of many more successful upcycling projects.”
