A Whole New Way to Live
A Characterful Home Gains Even Greater Appeal After Its Transformation
Nestled in Bochum's northern neighbourhoods, this modest terrace house immediately captured the imagination of architect Ole Wetterich and his team at Typ A. | Architektenteam. With around 100 m² of living space, the single-family home charms with its courtyard character, offering an excellent structural foundation for renovation. What makes this eight-month transformation remarkable is its restraint: from the street, the changes are barely perceptible. This careful approach—preserving the neighbourhood's original urban design concept—was central to the vision from day one.
Inside, however, the transformation reveals itself fully. The floor plan has been reimagined to suit the owners' lifestyle. Upon arrival, visitors notice the interplay of the roof's varied slopes and glimpses of mature trees. What unfolds is an intimate courtyard—a hidden sanctuary that shields the home from neighbours while becoming the design's defining feature. A generous new window wall in the kitchen and dining area draws this courtyard inward, dissolving boundaries between inside and out. Every room now offers compelling sight lines that weave interior and exterior together. The open flow between kitchen, dining, living spaces, courtyard, and garden emphasises the home's unexpected spaciousness. Restrained, carefully considered colours and materials—clean whites and minimal palettes—honour the home's modest intervention. Fine-grained wooden flooring glows against pristine walls and ceilings. Above the kitchen, a beautifully finished concrete soffit adds a quiet architectural accent.
The exterior presents a warm palette. The smooth rendered façade of the new insulation system harmonises with the metallic window frames set flush with the surface, creating the impression of a single unified composition. At dusk, the courtyard and garden become particularly magical, as subtle lighting softly illuminates the space. The owners, having invested their own hands and hearts into much of the work, take justifiable pride in their carefully crafted retreat.
Photography Credits:
Sebastian Kautz
http://kautz-arch.bplaced.net/wordpress/
(Published in CUBE Ruhrgebiet 04|21)
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