The wave of attic conversions shows no signs of slowing – you'd think Munich had exhausted every last roof space by now. When the future owners of this Neuhausen property purchased the attic, they also acquired an existing loft apartment, allowing them to expand the living area to encompass both the attic itself and the previously unused roof peak.

With structural renewal, fire safety, and energy efficiency in mind, architects Urs Fridrich and Benjamin Nejedly of Eneff Architects in Munich opted to replace the original roof structure with prefabricated CLT (cross-laminated timber) panels. Every unused area needed insulation. The existing apartment was stripped back to its foundations, making way for an entirely new layout. The attic floor was designed with flexibility in mind – the right half can be sealed off and function as a separate residential unit, complete with bathroom, two living spaces, and kitchen connections. The left half houses the kitchen, dining area, and living room, while the bathroom and bedroom tuck under the roof ridge, accessed by a narrow staircase. But here's where the conversion truly shines: positioned between the bathroom and bedroom is a multipurpose space – living room, lounge, or studio, depending on the owners' needs – crowned with a sweeping panoramic window and a small balcony-like alcove. Throughout the roofscape, the architect strategically placed windows to fulfill the clients' vision of flooding the space with natural light.

What sounds straightforward on paper proved far more complex: the original roof structure lacked the structural capacity to support such an extensively "perforated" design. Complete reconstruction was necessary. The result is a 124 m² living space with flexible room configurations and numerous skylights—both modest and generous—offering sweeping views across Neuhausen's roofscape.

www.eneff-architekten.de

Photography:
Dominik Oczkowski

(Published in CUBE Munich 03|24)