A Leipzig flat, renovated in English. For people who chose this city on purpose.
ZEIA is a small Romanian-Swiss architecture studio, run by the two of us. We plan and run interior renovations in Leipzig — in English, from the first call to the last snag.
Nobody ends up in Leipzig by accident. You picked it — for the space, the pace, the fact that a family can still afford rooms here. And the rooms are worth it: Leipzig kept more of its Gründerzeit bones than almost any German city. High ceilings, double doors, stucco that survived a century of other people's taste.
A flat like that deserves better than a white-box refresh, and its owner deserves better than quotes in German legalese and a renovation decided over their head. We design with the old bones, not against them, around the way you actually live. We know what the building will and will not allow, and we say so early — before it costs you anything.
A home designed around what was already loved
This house began as a study we set ourselves: one garden of magnolias, one old red rug, and a rule — everything else must earn its place around them. So every room faces the blossom, the walls stay bare and pale, and the rug sits in the middle like it grew there.
The study is the method. We do not arrive with a look. We find the two or three things you actually love — a rug, a ceiling height, the way light falls at four in the afternoon — and build the design around them.
In a Gründerzeit flat, half of those things are already in the walls. Our job is to notice them, keep them, and make the rest of the flat worthy of them.
What we bring to a renovation
We design around how you actually live and the things you carried with you — not a catalogue look. If it could belong to anyone, we have not finished.
Every drawing, quote and decision reaches you in English. On site we speak German with the trades, so nothing is lost in either direction.
High ceilings, double doors, stucco, plank floors — we design with what a century left you, and we know which of it the building rules protect. When a job needs a German architect's sign-off, we bring in a local partner we trust.
You set the envelope early, you see the cost behind each choice, and nothing changes without you. Surprises on the bill come from decisions made without you, and we do not work that way.
How a renovation goes
Thirty minutes, in English, online or at your flat. You tell us what the place is and what it is missing. No pitch.
We come and see the flat, watch how the light moves through the day, look at what you already own and love. We write a short brief together first — and flag anything the building will not allow.
Concept first, then the details: materials, light, the built-in pieces. You see and decide everything, with the cost behind each choice on the table.
We coordinate the trades in German, keep you informed in English, and stay on it to the finished room. Then we stay reachable for the snags.
Thirty minutes in English, no pitch, to hear what you want this home to feel like. If we are not the right studio for it, we will say so, and point you to someone who is.
A few honest questions
Do you run the whole renovation in English?
Yes. Every conversation, drawing, quote and decision reaches you in English — it is how the two of us work anyway. With the trades on site we speak German, so nothing is lost in either direction.
Can you work with a Gründerzeit flat?
Gladly — it is the best reason to renovate in Leipzig. The high ceilings, the double doors, the stucco are not obstacles; they are the material. We design with the old bones, not against them, and we know which of them the rules protect.
We rent our flat. Can we still renovate?
For a full renovation you need to own the flat, or have your landlord's written go-ahead. For lighter work it depends on what you want to change. We will be honest early about what is realistic either way.
How long does a renovation take?
A bathroom is weeks; a whole flat is months. We will not pretend there is one number before we have seen the place. What we promise: a real schedule once we have, and a warning when it moves — before it moves, not after.
What does it cost?
It depends on the flat and on what you want — anyone who names a price before seeing either is guessing. You set the envelope early, we design inside it, and you see the cost behind each choice before you commit to it.
Where in Leipzig do you work?
All of Leipzig — Waldstraßenviertel, Gohlis, Schleußig, Plagwitz, and wherever else the good rooms are. Berlin too. Half of the studio lives between countries, so travelling to you is not a problem.