The family had been searching for their ideal home for years. But as often happens, serendipity played a hand—architect Laura Schommer-Wolstein from Bonn's Schommer architectural practice discovered the perfect property right next to her parents' home. This unassuming single-storey gabled house from the 1960s offered more than just renovation potential: its generous distance from neighboring structures made it an ideal canvas for an elegant expansion. The result would be contemporary open-plan living with seamless indoor-outdoor connectivity.

The original 134 m² home featured cramped, compartmentalized rooms—an inefficient layout for family living. The architects envisioned something different: a U-shaped extension nestled between the main house and garage, wrapping around an intimate patio, expanded the living area to 210 m² while creating an expansive, protected zone with distinct areas for living, dining, and cooking. Three-meter-high sliding glass walls capture the sun's journey across the sky, from east to west, framing panoramic views of the lush garden with its mature trees and evergreen plantings. Seamlessly connected to a wooden terrace deck, the space immediately evokes the relaxed ease of a Mediterranean retreat. The sliding walls retract even around corners, allowing the boundary between indoors and out to dissolve entirely. The patio becomes a flowing indoor-outdoor room, its transparent glass ceiling ensuring year-round usability. Above the freestanding kitchen island, a generous three-part skylight bathes the living area in dynamic natural light, creating an ever-changing interplay of brightness and shadow. Inside the original structure, walls were strategically removed to transform the former living and dining room into a spacious, fully accessible master bedroom with an adjoining ensuite—complete with a freestanding tub positioned to capture garden views. The former attic was reimagined as a dedicated children's zone with bath, its enlarged dormer flooding the rooms with daylight and garden vistas. Throughout the project, old and new coexist as distinct yet complementary entities. Ceiling surfaces were carefully coordinated: a board-formed concrete structure hidden beneath the existing wood cladding was exposed to create visual harmony with the new building's exposed concrete ceilings. Warm parquet flooring runs continuously through both old and new sections like an unbroken thread. A section of the original red brick exterior was deliberately preserved in the extension as a striking textural reference. Custom-built furniture throughout emphasizes each room's individuality. The home operates on a contemporary KNX automation system, while a photovoltaic array installed on the partially vegetated extension roof generates the majority of the household's electricity.

www.schommer-architekt.com
Instagram: architekturbuero_schommer

Photography:
Annika Feuss
www.annikafeuss.com

(Published in CUBE Cologne Bonn 01|24)