The clients who purchased the generously proportioned penthouse apartment in the center of Bad Neuenahr actually just wanted to move in. The previous owner still had built-in wardrobes - why not simply take over the existing high-quality furniture and add more cupboards? The couple quickly realized, however, that it would not be possible to realize their wish for a cross-room design concept under the vaulted barrel roof. And so they commissioned Annette Bartsch's office for architecture and interior design from Bad Neuenahr with a contemporary design concept from a single source.

The cooking, living and dining areas of the spacious, almost 300 m² apartment face south. The private areas - a bedroom, a dressing room, the master bathroom and a guest room - are located in the northern part of the residential unit. A study and a reading room are located in the center. Almost all rooms have direct access to the outdoor terraces. The idea was to create as much storage space as possible behind unobtrusive cupboard fronts. The predominantly matt white surfaces are contrasted by anthracite-coloured surfaces, which structure the horizontal and emphasize special cupboard areas. Functions such as the hatch to the kitchen or the folding guest bed disappear inconspicuously into the calm, handleless surfaces of the custom-made built-in wardrobes. The concept of light and dark contrasts is also reflected in the design of the cabinet surfaces and tiles in the bathroom. The apartment is uniformly laid with the same silver-grey carpet, which emphasizes the openness of the living space. A high-tech sound system brings the sounds into all rooms via largely invisible technology. Loudspeakers were plastered into the walls or integrated inconspicuously into the cupboard surfaces. The building fabric offered good opportunities to equip all rooms with the top-class technology via floor ducts and empty conduits. The barrel ceiling is a particular challenge for every craftsman: lighting that emphasizes the curves on the one hand does not forgive any unevenness in the surface and requires particular dedication in the drywall construction and painting work on the other. Newly installed coves provide individual lighting moods via DALI-controlled LEDs. An open panoramic fireplace was integrated into the room-forming wall unit in the living room. The continuous surface - partly fireplace cladding, partly cupboard front - places high demands on fire protection and required a correspondingly elaborate paint finish. The seating area in the living room can be "occupied" individually without favoring a particular viewing direction. The view can be directed equally towards the fireplace or the TV screen hidden in the cupboard. On the other side, the wonderful view over the rooftops of Bad Neuenahr is a delight.

www.annettebartsch.de

(Published in CUBE Cologne Bonn 02|20)