For 18 years, Robert and his spouse, Patricia, have lived on this property that his dad and mom first purchased within the Seventies. Now, Volhard is a associate in a global industrial regulation agency and commutes between Frankfurt, Paris, and London. However he additionally studied structure on the ETH Zurich and 25 years in the past, he based Stylepark, an internet journal and platform for structure and design merchandise. It proved to be a useful useful resource at a time when most individuals in Germany had been nonetheless leafing by way of thick catalogs in structure workplaces when it got here time to supply merchandise.
A daring break in type
When the couple’s kids had been headed off to boarding college, it turned obvious that the constructing’s roof urgently wanted to get replaced. The couple took this as an indication to go greater than a typical patch-up—and opted as an alternative for a daring architectural reimagining of their dwelling. “In our outdated age, we wished to present ourselves a roof backyard in the midst of the town,” the Volhards inform AD. This required a migration upward into the attic of their constructing, which introduced only one downside: the concept of residing in a mansard house, which implies all-around sloped ceilings, had no attraction to them.
Then, they met architect Peter Begon at a good friend’s celebration. “He informed me about his plans,” says Begon. “He had a design in thoughts, however the constructing laws appeared insurmountable.” Luckily, Begon’s workplace, B.A.S. Architekten, not solely knew how you can renovate historic buildings, but additionally how you can fulfill the aspirations of at present’s metropolis dwellers. “Within the nineteenth century, buildings tended to have a sure character the place the connection between private and non-private was clearly outlined,” says Begon. “Right this moment, many individuals need as an alternative a way of openness and lightweight.”
The architects reconfigured the outdated mansard ground, with its awkward angled partitions, into a brand new one the place a lot of the partitions are vertical and views of the encompassing metropolis are a spotlight. Additionally they seemed upwards to the unused ground above, making a inexperienced roof backyard subsequent to the enclosed space. The architects pushed their purchasers in the direction of a higher openness when it got here to the ground plan. “I objected a bit of as a result of we wanted some partitions the place we may hold our artwork,” recollects Volhard. Begon helped to vary his purchasers’ minds when he requested, albeit dryly, whether or not they would fairly reside in an house or a museum.
When one enters the house now, among the many issues they’ll discover first is the huge stainless-steel block within the kitchen. “Some individuals don’t prefer it,” says Volhard, shrugging his shoulders. “However I prefer to cook dinner.” There’s no contradiction between effectivity and aesthetics for this design-savvy chef. Even throughout the planning part, the shopper left little doubt that he had a really clear thought of some options he wished the house to incorporate. “Robert despatched us an in depth listing of particular requests starting from the kitchen structure to the size of the cabinets within the library,” says Sven Petzold from Holzrausch. “I believed this undertaking may both find yourself being a nightmare or it will likely be clean and seamless.”
