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former courthouse and women’s prison in Charlottenburg is the unexpectedly gorgeous raw material for Wilmina, a boutique hotel whose renovation leaves much of its original detail intact, but turns its atmosphere 180 degrees from its original purpose — and the sheer welcoming tranquility of the place is similarly the polar opposite of the edgy, confrontational approach favored by many other Berlin boutique hotels.

The adaptation of this once-forbidding structure remains faithful to its raw material, but not too faithful. The windows resemble the originals but have been enlarged, adding a healthy amount of natural light, and the design is a touch austere, but for reasons that are anything but punitive. Pressed leaves and flowers bring a little bit of nature inside, and organic materials predominate, from simple wooden furnishings to all-natural COCO-MAT beds.

Meanwhile, the cuisine can just as aptly be described as a marriage of modernist simplicity and organic warmth. Chef Sophia Rudolph’s vegetable-focused restaurant, Lovis, is tucked away amid gardens and courtyards in the center of the hotel complex; the neighboring Lovis Bar is a low-lit, low-key cocktail bar with a minimalist aesthetic that extends to its behind-the-bar rows of identical brown bottles. Meanwhile Lotta, the café and “day bar,” serves seasonal drinks and homemade specialities, and the bakery, Wilmina Brot, provides bread for the hotel’s restaurants alongside a selection of baked goods.