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The Circus Penthouse Apartment

24. Januar 2012 in Circus Apartments, Circus Hotel, Circus News, Design by Paul

Penthouse_LivingRoom

Even though we have spent much of the past few months on the opening of the Apartments, there is another new corner of the Circus that has been “created” recently, and that is the Penthouse Apartment that you can find on the top floor of the Circus Hotel. On two levels, the Penthouse has a terrace on both floors with incredible views over the city – even on a grey day like today – so you can wake up each morning to the sight of the television tower, the Reichstag, the New Synagogue and much more.

Inside the apartment there is 122m² of living space, including bedroom with reading corner and a separate working space on the upper level. As with all the apartments on Choriner Straße, the Penthouse comes with iPad loaded with music library, city guides and a range of apps, a multimedia docking station,
flatscreen television with Bluray player and wireless connection to keep you in touch with the rest of the world.

Once again, Sandra has done a great job on the interior design… and here are some more pics to give you an idea:

Penthouse_Bedroom

Penthouse_LongView

Penthouse_Lamp

Penthouse_Study

Penthouse_Terrace

You can book the Circus Penthouse Apartments through the website here.

Circus Blog 2011 Review Part Two – July to December

21. Dezember 2011 in Art, Beer, Berlin, Berlin Wall Anniversary, Books, Christmas Market, Circus Apartments, Circus Hostel, Circus Hotel, Circus News, Design, Events, Festivals, Film, Football, History, Media, Multitude, Music, Photography, Review of 2011, The Kitchen by Paul

2011reviewparttwo

Okay, so we reached the middle of the year yesterday in our review of 2011 via Circus blogposts, and as the cold wind blows outside the windows of the office here on Rosenthaler Platz it is hard to picture those warm and sunny days of barbecues in the park where we left things, but we will use the power of the blog and an ability to link to take us back to the recent past…

July. The Women’s Football World Cup got serious as we reached the knock-out stages. Germany, as always, were great hosts of the tournament, but they fell foul on the pitch to a surprise defeat at the hands of the eventual winners Japan. Here at The Circus we made a film, brought Dandy of the Grotesque into Fabisch, and began our tours to Kreuzberg with Jim Hudson whilst Jule and the other Jim took people to explore Marzahn.

Into August and Rani delivered the first designs for the new cafe and lounge at the apartments, whilst Sasa and the gang began the long process of deciding what special things would be served there. Berlin commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall with a series of different events and exhibitions around the city, whilst we met a 70 year-old on his birthday who had been born in the very building that now houses The Circus Hotel. Meanwhile Andrew was having a weekly struggle with the weather, Toga was off to watch his team at the Olympic Stadium, and Sandra was getting “in the mood” with her plans for new apartments. It all seems so long ago…

In September we met Carl Oskar for the first time when he popped by the hotel for a visit, but otherwise it was work, work, work, work, on the Circus Apartments. Meanwhile, we were checking out the international literature festival, and many of our guests were gaining our complete admiration as they took on the Berlin Marathon course. As we moved into autumn a friend of ours published a book on a subject close to the hearts of the English-speaking staff members of The Circus – beer – whilst Preston ran a special photography tour for the festival of lights and Digel waved to passing members of the St Pauli football team on Torstraße.

Into November and we hosted the inaugural meeting of the Berlin St Georges Supporters Club down in Goldman’s Bar, began our new fundraising campaign with our friends at Multitude, celebrated Thanksgiving in the Circus Cafe and drank our first glasses of glühwein at the Berlin Christmas Markets.

And so we reach December and the end of 2011. Sometimes December can be a calm and quiet month at The Circus, but not this year. We had a film crew come by the hostel to make a special clip for our website (coming soon!) but mostly we were getting the apartments ready for launch, which we did last week.

So as Christmas and New Year’s Eve approaches, we reach the end of our special review of 2011 (part two), and we would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone – guests, staff, partners and friends – who have been with us during 2011 and the next year of the Circus story. In 2012 the Circus will be FIFTEEN years old… who could imagine what would have happened when the doors opened on that first 40-bed building close to Friedrichstraße.

Ah, enough of the nostalgia. See you soon.

Circus Blog 2011 Review Part One – January to June

20. Dezember 2011 in Art, Bars, Beer, Berlin, Books, Circus Apartments, Circus Hostel, Circus Hotel, Circus News, Circus Talks, Design, Events, Fabisch, Festivals, Film, Football, History, Hungry Jared, Media, Music, Our Neighbourhood, Review of 2011, Rosentage, Slow Travel Day, Stuff We Like, The Berg Gallery by Paul

2011reviewpartoneIn amongst all the excitement of the opening of the Apartments last week, we missed the second birthday of this lovely blog, and so we thought we would use the chance to not only say “Happy Birthday” to ourselves, but have a look back at a year in the Circus through our blog posts. Now quite a lot of things have happened to us over the past twelve months, so we have decided to split this into two and begin with the first six months of the year.

In January we launched our cooperation with the ZeitzeugenBörse for our series of eyewitness history talks, which are still continuing each month in Fabisch, and we have a very special treat and surprise on this topic coming up in January…so keep your eyes open! We also recieved the happy news that The Circus Hotel had once again been selected for the Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice Awards, voted for by people who have stayed with us at the hotel and a wonderful achievement for the second year in a row. Later in month Judith and Lisanne took some guests on a special Long Night of the Museums Tour, whilst Jared started on his mission to eat around Berlin.

February might be the shortest month but there was lots going on, especially as the Berlinale was in town. We also prepared a very special welcome for a very special friend of ours.  March was completely packed, with a renovation of the Circus Cafe just in time for all the different events of our Slow Travel Day, including tours, film screenings, a pop-up bookshop and much more, whilst our small Kunstbox at the hostel became host for the Pictosplasma festival. Over at the hotel Marie Jacobi brought Rapunzel to the tower, where she still sits…

Into spring and we welcomed the Berg Gallery to our Kunstbox, celebrated Hertha’s return to the Bundesliga, and continued our obession with you know who. As the weather continued to get warmer the fun and games carried on, with a visit of Gino the Clown to the hostel, we sadly waved goodbye to Konny as he left the Circus (we still miss you), and made the first announcement of the new Circus Apartments.

As the summer arrived we headed up onto the roof of the Circus Hotel for yoga sessions, and worked with our neighbours on the Rosentage neighbourhood and cultural festival. We reached the halfway point of the year with Lisa hosting “Europe’s Most Awesome Barbecue” in Mauerpark.

Phew…and we are only halfway there. Part Two of the 2011 review will be on the blog in the next couple of days…

Festive Excitement Part IV: The Circus Christmas Bazaar

16. Dezember 2011 in Berlin, Circus Hostel, Design, Events, Food, Poetry by Paul

Christmas Bazaar BlogOn Tuesday 20th December we will be hosting our very own Christmas Bazaar at The Circus Cafe. Beginning at 5pm we will be selling handicrafts designed and created by members of the Circus team, including cosmetic/travel bags with different motifs (including Berlin and the Circus), as well as loop scarves, notebooks and homemade pralines.

There will also be soup, cake and glühwein, all of which will be “sold” on a donation basis, to raise money for MULTITUDE, the refugee rights and support organisation here in Berlin that the Circus has been supporting recently, such as through the fleamarket donation of our piles and piles of lost and found. Multitude’s idea is to visit and plan activities with the refugees, to help take their minds away from what can be an incredibly negative process that they have to deal with, and build a multicultural exchange between the refugees and the wider German society. The activities include German lessons, cooking and watching movies together, playing with the children, organising picnics in the park or games of basketball.

From 7pm Lady Gaby will be hosting a spoken word event, featuring Christmas Stories from around the world. The four performers will use stories, poetry and song to tell their very own yuletide tales. So come and join us next Tuesday for a couple of festive hours, buy some homemade presents for loved ones, help raise money for a very important organisation, and listen to expat tales of Christmas past to help get you in the holiday spirit. It’s going to be fun…

The Circus Apartments Opening – First Pictures

15. Dezember 2011 in Berlin, Circus Apartments, Circus News, Design, Food, The Kitchen by Paul

Kitchen_UprightSo here we are. After many months and the odd period of trials and tribulations, the first guests are on the way and the apartments team are ready to welcome them. And for all of you readers of the Circus blog who have had to do with moodboards, sketches, renderings and, well, simply our word for it, now we can present you with some pictures so you can get a sense of what we are opening on the Choriner Straße. It has been an exciting and tough time getting the building ready for the first guests, and we are very proud of the results.

Take a look…

The Kitchen

The ground floor of the apartments building is where you will find The Kitchen, a cafe and lounge that is also the base for the concierge team of the apartments.

Kitchen_Counter

The Kitchen was designed by Lebanese architect Rani al Rajji

Kitchen_StagsHead

Our wonderful coffee comes from our friends down in Kreuzberg Five Elephant

Kitchen_CoffeeMachine

The Kitchen has plenty of space to relax, as well as a library of books and magazines curated with the special help of our friends at Dialogue Books.

Kitchen_CouchCorner

The Apartments

All apartments have their own name, and personalised door sign to help you find the right one :-)

Apartmet_Meyer_Sign

Here is the kitchen and living area from Apartment Schmidt…

Apartment_Schmidt_LivingKitchen

…and the bedroom from Apartment Meyer

Apartment_Meyer_Bedroom

All apartments come with an iPad loaded with goodies, including special Berlin guides and apps, games and playlists, and much more

Apartment_Meyer_iPad

Don’t forget the balconies, the place step out for a spot of fresh air

Balcony

And of course, all apartments come with at least one spacious and luxurious bathroom

Apartment_Schmidt_Bathroom

As always, the special details and the overall design of the building is the work of Sandra Ernst.

Apartment_Schmidt_Deco

We will of course be uploading more pictures to the website and the blog in the coming days and weeks, but for now we hope you enjoyed this first look at The Circus Apartments.

Apartments Art by Billy

31. Oktober 2011 in Art, Circus Apartments, Circus News, Design, Streetart by Paul

As we continue to work towards the opening of the Circus Apartments we thought we would give you a quick update on what is happening and a look at some of the things we have been up to. There have been a couple of delays on the construction side, which means we will be opening the new house in the second half of November.

One of the things that we have been doing is bringing in different artists and designers, chosen by Circus designer Sandra Ernst, to bring their creativity and inspiration into the apartments themselves. As you might have seen here on the blog, Lebanese architect Rani al Rajji has created the design for The Kitchen Café & Lounge on the ground floor. Elsewhere in the building, we have Marie Jacobi, Luc Massin, Rafael Scovino and Fehmi Baumbach making their own unique contributions through wall paintings, picture prints, light installations and collages.

From England we Billy, a street artist who is creating murals in some of the apartments. You find out more about her work on her website but here is a short film of her in the apartments during the artistic process. Over the next few weeks we will be bringing you more of these snippets as we approach the opening, so you can get a sense of how the apartments will look and the thoughts and inspirations behind the process.

Circus Apartments – Getting Down to the Details

19. September 2011 in Circus Apartments, Circus News, Design, Events, Food by Paul

tasting peopleAs we reach the final stretch at The Circus Apartments, and the opening date gets ever nearer, we thought we would let you know some of things we have been up to. Although of course the big issues – the construction work, the design, and the development of working structures for the new house – are of massive importance, it is crucial in a project such as this not to lose sight of the many small details. How a place comes together is a combination of the two, for example the overall design vision of the cafe on the ground floor, to the choice of coffee cups on the shelves behind the counter. Attention to detail is arguably the make or break issue in any project such as this, so much of our time at the moment is devoted to it.

sasa coffeeFor example, a few weeks ago Sasa and Lotte headed over to West Berlin to check out supplies for the cafe – the picture you can see is Sasa playing with a particularly funky piece of coffee equipment. Whilst that was going on Sandra was in the office talking to companies about furniture and delivery dates, part of the jigsaw-like process of realising her design vision for the apartments themselves, which began all those months ago with the inspiration of the mood boards. As for Christian, he was discussing with the building company the handover of the building, whilst I was beginning the testing process of the new website, which is now online.

meatA few days later Andreas, Sasa, Katrin, Lotte, Felix and Isabelle met in the meeting room of the hostel for one of the more enjoyable parts of the planning process…taste testing. On this particular day, and as you can see from the pictures, the subject under discussion was the wonderful world of ham and cheese. Sasa had brought together the products of a number of top quality suppliers for everyone to try, and between mouthfuls of melt-in-the-mouth cold cuts and tangy tasty cheese they attempted to articulate their opinions.

SAM_0020Meanwhile, as you have already seen, Rani was over in Lebanon at Blatt Chaya, overseeing the final production and shipping of the tiles for the cafe. Those tiles are now on a boat making their way to Germany, to arrive in time to be installed in all their glory. Even on the photographs the colours look spectacular, and we are really excited about seeing them in real life and with our own eyes. I described Sandra’s job a moment ago as like putting together a jigsaw, and in many ways that applies to the whole project, whether it is the choice of bed linen and curtains, Andrew developing the content for the iPads that will be in each apartment, or Felix deciding on the structure of the opening events.

It is getting closer but it is coming together nicely. Excitement is building. We are really looking forward…

Circus Apartments website is launched

14. September 2011 in Circus Apartments, Circus News, Design by Paul

Last night we replaced the info page about the new Circus Apartments with the brand new website, designed by our very own Julia Stone and put together with the help of the boys from escriptum. There is already a lot of info on there, including the different categories of apartments, information about services, our new neighbourhood guide and Berlin information, and as we get ever closer to the opening date in October we will be adding more and more information, pictures and staff profiles for the house.

Check it out:

aptswebscreenshot

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