033_Inverted_LOFT

The roof of this 19th century building in Berlin Nikolassee must be expanded into a loft apartment.

However, the roof volume could not be changed due to the monument protection requirements. In this way, from the street view, nothing changes. With only 2.6m room height in the middle of the roof, and even if is challenging, a spacious loft is expected to be created.

The idea that defines this lofts is upside down. Instead of having the functions such as bathing, storing, cooking and working centrally arranged, open living spaces are placed in the middle. The living room extends over the center to all four outer sides and this creates exciting spatial connections. Through niches and generous areas at the end of each "arm", some intersting views arise.

The functional program is placed in the buildings "corners" and thus make the room free for circulation and living.

Sustainability:

The new roof is being built with a timber construction. The hollow spaces are filled with wood fiber insulation in order to delay the heating of the roof space in the summer due to their higher heat storage capacity. The flat area, apart from increasing the space capacity of the roof, is also a green roof.

By arranging the living space through its "arms", each opening in the roof provides night cooling with optimized cross ventilation.

The inner walls are made of plaster fiber and lime-coated. This allows for a 3 times higher moisture absorption of the wall construction than the usual dry wall. Thanks to this moisture absorption, the room temperature is ideally regulated and a controlled ventilation can be dispensed with despite low energy standards.

Status: Built

Client: Private

Year: 2016 - 2019

Size: 220m² GFA

Ana Domenti, Marc Dufour-Feronce, Johann Göhler, Anastasiya Kozina, Andreas Reeg