Conversion and redensification are important strategies for creating urgently needed living space in existing urban areas. In Cologne's Dünnwald district, a bakery formed the starting point for this: the long-established business location was transformed into an apartment building with four individual residential units and associated outdoor areas by the Cologne-based architecture firm HPA+.

The substance of the existing building was as heterogeneous as the surrounding urban environment: located at the end of a row of houses on the corner of the street, the former bakery occupied the entire first floor of the three-storey residential building as a store. In addition, a single-storey outbuilding was pragmatically added during the years of reconstruction, in which the bakery was located. Taking advantage of the existing status, the outbuilding was preserved and extended: on the one hand, the structure was widened into the plot, and on the other, it was extended on the street side. In this way, two townhouse-like residential units of around 70 m² each were created on the first floor, which - despite the limited space available - have their own entrance with a front garden and a raised terrace loggia on the opposite side with a lower attached pocket garden. A further residential unit, accessed via the existing staircase of the residential building, links the former store with another part of the outbuilding to create a spacious 100 m² apartment with a south-east-facing terrace facing the front garden. Finally, a covered external staircase leads to the extended upper floor of the outbuilding: The spacious 136 m² apartment was fitted with a roof terrace on the garden side and runs completely across the entire width of the lower residential units. Parking spaces for the additional apartments were found in the front garden strip of the existing residential building and in a double garage directly adjacent to the outbuilding. Overall, an urban mix of well-lit and well-designed apartments was created in a relatively small space - diverse in terms of typology and orientation.

The façade design of the extended existing building proved to be a particular design challenge: The new window and loggia openings had to integrate the existing openings of the former outbuilding. The result is impressive: The resulting façade is varied and yet appears orderly. The previously completely unarticulated street block has been given a new, recognizable face thanks to the new arrangement.

www.hpa.de

Photos:

Detlef Podehl
www.podehl.com

(Published in CUBE Cologne Bonn 02|22)