Sometimes the seemingly limiting regulations of a development plan ultimately mean that the result is even more pleasing to the client than their original idea of their new home. Provided, of course, that the architects come up with something special. At least that was the case with Gelnhausen-based R2 Architektur, which planned a house for a family of four. The clients wanted a very modern house with a living floor on the first floor, a children's floor with a balcony on the first floor and a parents' floor with a roof terrace on the top floor. To create the impression of a spatial continuum, flowing, open rooms were to be planned on the living floor on the first floor and a lot of glass was to be used overall so that the interior and exterior spaces merge. The client's hairdressing studio also had to be accommodated in the building.

The clients would have preferred a flat roof for the extensive conversion. However, this was not permitted according to the development plan and an exemption was not granted by the building authorities. In order to be able to develop a solution that could be approved, the architects repeatedly consulted with the building authorities in Frankfurt. The result was a building with a pitched roof that blends in with the urban surroundings and meets the clients' wishes for modernity. The existing building was also not allowed to be demolished. The architects therefore first dismantled everything down to the foundation walls, uncovering the leaking basement and completely resealing it. The large glass surfaces were also a small challenge, for which the architects developed individual solutions together with a structural engineering office. To ensure that the family had sufficient privacy, they planned the hairdressing studio in the basement and also created a new entrance from the outside so that customers did not have to walk through the family's living space.

The architectural firm realized this extensive conversion using ecological and sustainable materials. The façade, for example, was fitted with mineral insulation, while the roof truss and roof structures as well as the extension on the first floor were built using timber frame construction.

"All the wishes were implemented perfectly. Although the development plan stipulated a pitched roof, the result is an ultra-modern building. In the end, this made the solution even more individual and gave the house a very unique and unmistakable character," say the owners, delighted with their new home.

www.r2-architektur.de

Photos:

Martin Manolito Maiwald & Jakob Maiwald
www.photo-maiwald.de

(Published in CUBE Frankfurt 03|21)