Situation and historical background
The building is from the late 19th century, situated in the historic centre of Munich town with a magnificent view to the Frauenkirche cathedral with its characteristic onion-topped twin towers.
Concept/idea
Enlargement of the top apartment and use of the attic storey of a heritage-protected back building were the first steps in the concept of this loft conversion project. The space under the sloping and bending mansard roof was formerly used as pure storage space with its original wooden structure clearly visible. This special constructional feature was partly utilized when the extension was drafted. Through an extension of the ogive arch ribs in the top ceiling, the original storey under the mansard roof has been turned into a grand loft with atelier characteristics and the luxury of space, lightness and simplicity.
Interior and function
In the rooms in the upper level of the attic the roof windows have been cut out and enlarged rather dramatically. By this their depth and sloping cut reveal and interpret the themes of the mansard roof, excessively expressionistic. The slopes are facing eastwards and westwards, which means that they easily channel light deep into the centre of the attic space during the day. Almost no pieces of furniture and a small pile of books together with a big scale ‘black box’, containing the bathroom, are the only sculptural structures in the otherwise open, bright atelier space.
The special construction of the roof windows enables – quite in accordance with an economic optimization – a lot more space by making height and area under the windows useable. By this architectural trick it is possible to ‘reactivate’ and upgrade space, which before was completely unusable because of the tight geometry of the roof. Under one of these roof windows a small bathroom is placed.
Materials
The roof has been made of genuine, shiny copper, which goes very well with the old building and its expression. As a contrast, the choice of materials inside the loft has been simple and reduced, with emphasis on the contrast of the bright, white atmosphere of the attic room against the black furniture-like box. The floorboards were made of solid larch wood, which brings a natural liveliness and warmth into the room dominated by the raw materiality of the construction of the old trusses. The roof windows made of Nordic pine add warmth to the overall feeling of ‘less is more’ together with the wooden details.
Building process and construction
A special challenge in the design was to find a suitable form to deal with the planned extension of the living space with consideration to the heritage protected architecture. Basically the special conditions of the low ceiling height in the centre of the room clashed with the wish of a bright, generous room and the best possible utilization through gain of ceiling height. As the demands for heritage protection do not allow any cutting of the roof surface or constructions in form of dormers, the architects had to look for a compatible conversion form. A special construction, in form of a construction on stilts, in combination with a VE LUX roof window, is leading to an individual solution. The substructure made of a prefabricated timber frame to enlarge the depth of the reveal, carries the VELUX roof window unit and simple reversible sashes were installed. Because the reveals were installed in a sloping position, the opening to the sky will be increased and thereby stressing the clear geometry.
Daylight
Because of that, the design solution was shaped by focussing on the incidence of light during the course of the day. Four roof windows were placed in the roof surface and their deep reveals act as large ‘light shovels’. Their differing orientation towards east or west lets the room appear in ever changing light depending on the time of day and year. The reveals create the requested ceiling height and generosity of space in the elevated construction in the centre of the room. To optimize the incidence of light into the attic room, the reveals have been installed at two sides in a sloping position, which optimizes the guiding and luminous efficiency of the light compared to traditional constructions. By this the light is led deep into the room during sunny days.
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